Heart Of Black Ice
by NamelessNarrator
Summary: [-PART FIVE OF OF BLAZING LIGHT'S STORY-] After everything Cromach, Blaze, and Choking went through they decide to go on a vacation to the most expensive beach resort Griffon Empire coast has to offer. What can possibly go wrong for an ex-wanted griffon, sex-crazed batpony, and a blind unicorn?
1. Prologue: A Handy Summary

Equestria, a land where colorful ponies live in peace and harmony with nature, frolicking and being generally happy and incredibly cute.

That might be true from time to time and in certain places of said beautiful continent but definitely not everywhere. The idyllic existence is just something the neighbouring countries percieve as reality. The approach is understandable from the viewpoint of minotaurs living in tribes in the permanently frozen north, fighting for survival against things seen only in the darkest nightmares and the worst enemy of all - environment. The griffons in the east have it fairly similar although not as bad, living in a verdant region criss-crossed with deserts of varying sizes.

Deserts, this far north from the equator?

One could ask such question and would have to look into the history of griffons and ponies fighting over areas suitable for comfortable living for an answer. History, though, has a grim sense of humor and said conflicts turned those lush forests and bountiful grasslands into the wastelands they are now. Despite them, or maybe because of them, the inhabitants are tough, resourceful, and grateful for every new day. How the griffons managed to fight off a race capable of using magic and ruled by two immortal sisters of godlike powers is hidden in the mists of time but the greatest clue could be their interest in inventions and new machinery. Unfortunately, such industrial revolution threatened to ruin the griffon land more than the magical wars ever could (albeit not as fast) and the two races became tentative allies, ponies desiring new technology and griffons looking for methods to bring back life into their homeland.

How is that important for this story?

Just a little. The general perception of ponies as defenseless pacifists of this age shattered after a certain griffon secret service agent instigated an attack on Equestrian coast in order to improve his standing with the griffon Emperor using information gained from a young griffon soldier he put through harsh trials to make him suffer for personal revenge. The attack failed miserably and the entire griffon invading force got wrecked by technology and magic far beyond their understanding. Not much information escaped about the incident but the entirety of the griffon secret service focused their efforts into finding out how ponies got so far ahead of them and the result was that they didn't.

They had help from somepony, somepony the griffons have never met before.

The secret service knew about the peace treaty between their mortal enemy - the changelings - and ponies but none of the traces led to them. Changelings are deadly, deceitful, and threatening and every young griffon has the knowledge drilled into their head but, one big but, they aren't a civlized nation with technology. No, changeling agents might have warned the ponies about the incoming attack but they definitely weren't the ones who repelled it. The agents still don't know exactly who did it as those sent to investigate failed to return with any amount of information. The agent that got the furthest returned with only bits and pieces.

Bits and pieces that shook the griffon secret service to their armored boots.

He talked about a heavily guarded pony encampment in the Everfree Forest, about a shimmering portal surrounded by ponies at all times leading into a massive fortress somewhere unknown and even more guarded. He said even ponies didn't know much about the place but called it the mirror world, a different version of Equestria and the entire world. The agent didn't know anything else because he got caught on the other side of the portal and promptly returned to the hooves of ponies who in turn sent him back to the Griffon Empire. The griffons don't know who the powerful ally is, they don't know the true power of ponies from beyond the portal, but they sure act much friendlier than they used to. Politics can be fun like that. One question still remains on their minds though.

How did the ponies acquire such an ally and what are they going to do with it?

The answer to the second part is uncertain but the answer to the first part is long and starts somewhere completely different yet very similar in many respects. Pony and griffon scientists and mages (only pony mages, of course) can talk on an on about alternate realities and infinite universes until everypony listening falls asleep but in this case it would cast light on what happened to a unicorn in a different branch of existence.

Said unicorn's name was Blazing Light and he was nothing special aside from considering himself an utter failure. He left his home in Manehattan in deep depression and the first train ticket he bought led him to Canterlot over a year before the changeling invasion happened. Armed with no life experience whatsoever, he got lucky in finding the crappiest job Canterlot had to offer that winter - carrying coal at night to every occupied room of Canterlot castle. It paid next to nothing but came with an empty room and a serviceable bathroom which was everything what Blazing wanted from life. He wasn't in good physical shape and almost pissed himself when he saw a batpony for the first time but the castle staff was so desperate for some heating (and lazy enough at the same time not to do the coal job themselves) to give the position even to somepony as unsuitable as he was.

Before his job interview Blazing met a batpony - princess Luna's personal bodyguard and the head of the Nightguard at the time Sharp Biscuit who directed him to a different batpony who was responsible for the job offer, a low-rank guardsmare responsible for preparing the Nightguard shift schedule. Her name was Choking Darkness, an unfortunate remnant of her mother's love for some extreme bedroom interests and a reason for her to become rather irritated whenever it was mentioned, and Blazing immediately fell in completely unrequited love with her although having never been an interest of mares before he had no idea.

Doing Choking's dirty work, Blazing was happy when she started talking to him more and more because they met frequently when she used the shower in Blazing's empty castle apartment instead of having to walk home across the whole city after every guard practice. For a while Blazing believed he was special in some way for her but then he found out her flirty approach was her general behaviour and as an unfortunate accident he met Choking's ex-coltfriend who was a very jealous and possibly insane pony. That happened after Choking asked Blaze to help her out by being a bartender at a party she hosted in the castle, a party where one of the guests was a diguised queen Chrysalis preparing the invasion of Canterlot year in advance. Chrysalis, seeing in Blaze a servant who can get anywhere in the castle, cursed him to eventually become a changeling and tell her everything about the routine of the castle staff. He, of course, didn't know anything at the time other than that a rather gorgeous pegasus mare talked to him for longer than any mare should.

Unfortunately, Choking, drunk as a skunk, tried to kiss Blaze which brought the attention of Valiant Charge, a staff combat guard teacher at the time and said ex-coltfriend, to him. As mentioned before, Valiant was an extremely jealous pony and soon after the party he and his friends threatened Blaze to make him stop seeing Choking. Choking being Blaze's boss, he saw no real way to do that and he actually had no desire to do so because even the smallest amount of Choking's attention was more than Blaze had ever had before. Blaze's refusal ended up with him in the infirmary with broken ribs and legs. Queen Chrysalis, disguised as a nurse that time, returned to see how her curse worked only to find out Blaze somehow failed to become a mind-controlled slave but when he told her everything she wanted she strengthened the spell, failing again but speeding up his future changeling transformation. Choking found out what happened and visited Blaze as well, triggering his new ability to feed on affection and helping him recover. When he admitted why he didn't want to just leave her be she offered to find somepony to help Blaze learn to defend himself because it wasn't the first time Valiant threatened her close friends but she was scared because he threatened even her and was a high-ranked Royal Guard and the son of a noble.

Choking's friend turned out to be Sharp Biscuit, a universally capable armsmaster and an excellent combat tactician, who helped Blaze awaken his ability to read ponies to an unnatural extent. Blaze, unfortunately, had very little armed combat talent which stemmed from his deeply rooted confidence issues making him believe every pony was more worth of life than himself. During this training Blaze learned that the little voice criticising him for everything he did was the start of his mind shattering into two split personalities, the original one and the one beating him for every mistake he's ever made. A mind can't just decide to go against itself though and the second one proved to be helpful in allowing Blaze to use his unicorn telekinesis to levitate two weapons at the same time without having to look around, thus improving his movement prediction even further. Blaze's main strength was, for previously mentioned reasons, in an unlethal combat though and he was able to outgrow Sharp's jack-of-all-trades abilities using only martial arts magazines bought from a small shop in Canterlot (and a rather drastic physical training led by Sharp). Things escalated when Choking decided to join their training and thus attracted Valiant's attention one night when it was just her and Blaze practicing in the castle gardens.

Using the combat skill that made other unicorns frown upon Blaze when he was younger(when unarmed combat was just his hobby) he successfully defended himself from the attack of Valiant Charge and four of his friends. That wouldn't have been possible without Chrysalis' spell kicking in and turning him into a strange changeling. He kept his color scheme and mane but his coat turned into changeling armor plates, allowing him to shrug off some attacks and survive. Said transformation made him go berserk and wound Valiant heavily. While the combat was going on Choking asked Sharp to bring princess Luna who stopped the combat and was ready to kill the unknown creature Blaze became but Choking persuaded her not to because technically Blaze was her underling which meant a Nightguard and as such entitled to royal interrogation. What only Sharp knew at the time was that princess Luna's special ability was the ability to sense lies and with her intervention while Blaze was locked in the castle dungeons they uncovered Valiant's previous crimes. When Luna left and pronounced Blaze free Sharp kissed him, thinking he was interested in stallions based on the looks he recieved during the showers together after every training. Blaze didn't know what to do with his first kiss but told Sharp he wasn't against anypony thinking he was worth the trouble which was a completely new experience.

Valiant Charge got banished instead of being executed or serving a lifetime sentence in prison thanks to the help of his wealthy father.

Funnily enough, the won fight due to some obscure old law meant that after beating a weapon expert became one himself and thus Blaze lost his old job and got a new one teaching the fresh spring batch of guard recruits unarmed combat and unicorn telekinetic sword combat. His first group of newbies brought two more interesting ponies to him. The first one was an experienced soldier named Solid Steel, who later became the head of the combat branch of Equestrian secret service, and a fresh recruit from the Trottingham military academy named Heavy Hoof. Two big problems arose during the training. The first one was that few older soldiers returning to the Royal Guard for retraining recognized Blaze as a changeling (sort of) and despised him. The second one was that Heavy was being abused by other recruits despite being stronger, smarter, and more skilled than everypony around him for being gay. That problem got sorted when Heavy stood for himself and beat up half of the recruit barracks himself after Blaze arranged a long talk between Heavy and Sharp which later resulted in them becoming a romantic item. A year of successful training passed, broken only by Choking finding a normal coltfriend named Fairfax and Blaze driving him away just like Valiant would have done. The rift between Blaze and Choking didn't close even after he came clean and repaired the relationship he'd broken.

In the second half of the year queen Chrysalis returned and this time her mind control worked on Blaze, using his non-lethal combat expertise to subdue prince Shining Armor and make him into Chrysalis' slave. After succeeding, Chrysalis drained Blaze to death, at least that was what she thought. When Blaze woke up he rushed to the practicing recruits and rallied them to stave off the main wave of attacking changelings, distracting queen Chrysalis in the throne room trying to find out why her forces weren't where they should long enough for Shining Armor to recover and bubble-blast the changelings away. With Blaze being part-changeling he was set on fire but gained his cutie mark that day. A black and a white circle locked together to symbolize his conflicting personalities and two minds in one body. Shining Armor, on behalf of princess Cadance persuaded to leave Blaze unpunished by Choking and Heavy, didn't press charges.

Another year passed and Twilight Sparkle ascended into alicornhood, a year Blaze spent mostly by drinking himself stupid every evening because Choking got promoted for being the official leader of the recruit group that stalled the invasion and wasn't around to keep Blaze sane after Canterlot turned on him for being a changeling-ish thing. His guard status protected him from everything aside from his own mind turning against him from the guilt of almost single-hoofedly giving Canterlot to Chrysalis by beating Shining Armor.

In more depressed state than ever before, Blaze had no idea the worst day of his life was yet to come.

The day was more precisely a night, Nightmare Night, when Choking was supposed to escort princess Luna to Ponyville but wanted to go to a party instead and Blaze agreed to take her shift. When Blaze and Sharp escorted the princess the flying carriage got attacked by a one-eyed pony using fire wings to fly, having a mechanical griffon arm instead of his front leg, and being much better than Blaze at hoof-to-hoof combat. The attacker was focused only on killing Blaze and let the carriage fly away towards Ponyville safely. Blaze, seeing no way to defeat a much more skilled opponent was in a mental state to try a suicidal attack when he noticed a golden portal following the attacker and charged into the pony, forcing him into the portal which crushed him and closed. Defeated but alive, Blaze returned to Ponyville and took a break while watching princess Luna have fun from afar.

After losing sight of her for a while Blaze found Luna and Twilight Sparkle barely holding off a unicorn version of Twilight with enough magical power to break through Luna's defenses and attempt to kill her. Pissed that Luna hadn't stopped to help him before, Blaze didn't want to throw himself into danger but when Sharp tried to bodyblock for Luna Blaze stepped in and took the spell himself, saving the thestral bodyguard. The spell was designed to drain will, life, and magic of the target but the loss of magic didn't cripple Blaze like it would do to a different unicorn because he wasn't able to use any magic at all aside from telekinesis. The side effect of the spell was that Blaze's inner voice got replaced by a being who called himself Void.

Void proved to be a more interesting passenger than Blaze's second personality and proclaimed himself to be an ancient being locked in Tartarus whom the spell sealed in Blaze's body and who would be free after his death. Contrary to Blaze's expectations, Void didn't attempt anything to harm Blaze and shared few words of wisdom with him. Blaze, being immature and way too depressed at the time, didn't listen too much but while Void was set on causing trouble for princess Celestia personally he wasn't causing trouble for the unicorn and he let Void just sit inside and watch the world.

Void wasn't the one who broke Blaze's little world, that honor belonged to Choking who wanted to switch shifts the next day again to go to another party to which she was invited by a prince she had met the day before. To make Blaze more willing after the night of horror she drugged him with pep pills and he, suddenly full of energy after breakfast, agreed. The problem was that Blaze's overly excellent performance during guard practice made a rivalling trainer Rising Thunder notice him and reveal Blaze was teaching recruits on drugs. It didn't take long for Blaze to realize what Choking did and why she did it but he would never tarnish her reputation to save himself so he waited for things to unveil. That evening the shift he switched with Choking left him patrolling the castle library the entire night and he found Blueblood trying to rape Choking in a dark corner where nopony should have been. Attacking Blueblood, Blaze got taken out by Rising Thunder who followed Blaze and recieved a reward from the prince for protecting him. Threatening Choking with gallows if she talked about the rape attempt, Blueblood and Rising accused Blaze of attacking royalty while being on drugs. Blaze, unwilling to put Choking in danger, refused to talk when Luna interrogated him so she wouldn't find the truth and act. The next day, according to a law ordering death penalty for all who would dare attack royalty, Blaze was hanged in Canterlot castle gardens.

To the absolute horror of Celestia and Luna watching the execution, Blaze's death summoned Void back into the world. Before both terrified alicorns could act, Void revealed the truth about everything Blueblood and Rising had done and disappeared. Shortly after, he offered his services to Choking who wanted to take revenge on Blueblood in exchange for her helping him retrieve the remainder of his soul and power from Tartarus. Choking, unwilling to help somepony threatening to cause trouble for Celestia, made Void explain he was the alicorn of Death who got trapped there after Celestia tricked him to look for his love in the depths of Tartarus ages ago. It turned out Void wanted to be more an annoyance than danger because he had nothing against ponies living in peace and prosperity under the solar princess and Choking agreed.

Blaze woke up in a magical body mimicking the abilities of his old one created by a different alicorn. Scream, the alicorn of Lust, summoned Blaze's soul before departing the world forever and let him out of her pocket dimension back to the world without telling him what she wanted. The only thing Blaze wanted though was to see Blueblood suffer and he found the prince after an evening dinner in a resturant, leaving him heavily wounded and yelling about ghosts. After getting heavily drunk to stop his mind screaming at him for willingly torturing another pony he found out Choking was seen with Void. Knowing about Void's hate for Celestia Blaze supposed he was using Choking to do his bidding which was broadly correct. In order to find a weapon capable of harming a demonic being Blaze returned home to the base of the Order of the Silver Sun in Manehattan, a place where one of the pair of blades capable of breaking spells was kept. Blaze lost the fight with his father Blinding Light, but his new body stopped him from dying. Unfortunately the killing blow meant for Blinding was blocked by Blaze's mother who got killed. Blinding, paralyzed by the sight of his dead wife, told Blaze where the second Blade of Balance of the pair was kept and told him never to return home again.

Choking, putting pieces about Blaze's death together, made her way to Manehattan just in time to see him kill his mother. Realizing what he'd done and in front of whom he'd done it, Blaze ran away and took the first train back to Canterlot. When Choking got the information about Blaze's next destination she rushed home as well. It turned out the second sword was in the possession of her family who led the Cult of Luna and was in direct opposition to the Order. When she got back to Canterlot she asked Void to rush to the site of the temple and stop Blaze. Using the magic distortion ability of one sword, Blaze gained access to the other one but the temple was already empty, Choking's family being warned by teleporting Void who appeared before Blaze. Trying to get Choking out of Void's hooves, Blaze attacked him and lost his right eye in the process, draining most of Void's currently limited power. Before the fight could continue Choking got to the temple as well and told Blaze why she was helping Void and what the place was. Blaze, realizing he was ready to kill anypony standing between him and the second sword, made himself believe he was the only threat to Choking and, unable to bear his guilt anymore, fled to Ponyville and later to Everfree Forest where he used the magic cancelling swords to pin himself to a floor in one of the many caves and waited for the magic in his body to drain away.

Void teleported Choking away from the temple because he felt Celestia tracking the use of his power and flying towards them. Returning to Choking's partment, the duo found princess Luna already waiting for them. Luna didn't attack them and explained she talked to Scream who shared that the spell bringing Void back was of her design and that the powerful unicorn version Twilight was part of her plans to save Equestria from an attack planned by king Sombra from the mirror world. Scream's plan was to have Luna help Void recover his soul from Tartarus by protecting his weakened self from Celestia. Luna, few days later, brought Celestia to Void's hideout and persuaded her to give him a chance. Choking and Void grew very close in next two weeks while Celestia was gathering armed forces and heading towards the Crystal Empire where Sombra was supposed to be able to connect both worlds using the Crystal Heart and mirror Corrupted Heart as catalysts.

Blaze's suicide attempt failed as before the Blades could kill him completely a group of changelings running away from a hydra hid in his cave. They took the Blades pinning him to the floor, letting his body recover and help them kill the beast. The changelings proved to be Chrysalis and a group of her guards who died in the process of defending her. Chrysalis recognized Blaze and tried to kill him, failing miserably as the Blades of Balance stopped all her magic. Tired and helpless, Chrysalis was ready for death but Blaze spared her because he didn't see her as a monster, remembering how ponies looked at him after the invasion and not wanting to kill anypony ever again. Chrysalis used his soft heart and hard dic- nevermind to make him protect her while returning to her hive through the forest. Blaze saw the carefree face of the changeling queen and their travels persuaded him Chrysalis' attack on Canterlot was more a desperate rather than malevolent act. Back in the hive, which was an abandoned city near the old Castle of Two Sisters, Blaze recognized a statue of Scream who, as Chrysalis told him, was a patron of changelings in a similar way Celestia was a patron of ponies, not the ruling kind though.

Using Scream's statue to contact her, Blaze got transported to her pocket dimension again and she told him everything. She told him about mirror Sombra's plans to conquer this Equestria. She told him about the spell that transformed him into the strange changeling he was and how it was the remnant of Celestia's heresy, a fate-changing spell designed by Starswirl the Bearded that the solar princess twisted to turn flutterponies into changelings for her army to fight griffons ages ago. As a last thing she told Blaze that there were eleven Elements of Harmony, not only the six known ones, and the five evil ones were locked by Celestia in the mirror world in the past, giving mirror Sombra's dark magic enough power to conquer the entirety of his world now. There were eleven, not twelve, Elements because the Element of Magic always appeared in the world which was weaker to balance out the stronger one and, according to Scream's words, the mirror world was far more powerful than Blaze's Equestria. Starswirl the Bearded's research into the Element of Magic gave birth to the Blades of Balance, currently in Blaze's possession, which were supposed to be the safeguard against Magic materializing in the mirror world one day. Armed with the Blades, Blaze was sent by Scream to the mirror world to kill one of the mirror Element Bearers. Before he went, Blaze asked Scream to teleport him to Choking's apartment so he could finally tell her he loved her and ask her out.

Blaze was ready to refuse Scream's mission if Choking said yes. Unfortunately, during Blaze's two weeks of travelling with Chrysalis Choking fell in love with Void.

Devastated, Blaze agreed to do what Scream wanted and she teleported him to the mirror version of Ponyville where he posed as Sombra's secret agent to harrass Rainbow Dash, the Element of Betrayal, so she would bring him to Rarity who was sold off to the Element of Greed, dragon king Spike. Having no chance of killing a fully grown dragon, Blaze murdered Rarity, causing Spike to go ballistic against Sombra's forces and weakening the invading force. While returning to Ponyville Rainbow Dash realized what Blaze had done from bloody spots on his coat and tried to kill him but Blaze struck first, crippling Rainbow and killing her after rough landing. Unable to cope with what he'd done, Blaze didn't defend himself when Applejack, the Element of Destruction, found him and sentenced him to fight in the Ponyville arena until he died.

Blaze fought his way through the ladder and faced Applejack in fair fight three times. The first time she ripped his front left leg off which the surgeons replaced with a mechanical griffon arm to allow AJ to cripple him more next fight. The second time she broke his horn. The third time Blaze stopped relying on the Blades to protect him from the power of the Element and killed AJ right in front of Sombra visiting the arena. Rather than killing Blaze, Sombra was happy he found somepony so resourceful and asked Blaze to join his forces. Breaking down at the realization that Scream gave him a one-way ticket, that Choking had never loved him, and that everything he'd done only caused pain to somepony Blaze agreed and his horn got replaced by a red crystal as a reward and he became the bearer of the Element of Betrayal previously belonging to Rainbow Dash.

The Element proved to have a mind of its own and made Blaze explore his lack of magic, causing him to slowly gain the power of turn the magic of his opponents against them. Betrayal, right? Upon Blaze's wish the Element took the form of a flying sword and, hating it, responded to the name Betty. Mind clearer, Blaze realized he was in the prime position to betray Sombra and destroy his plans but he wanted to see his mirror self first. Mirror Blazing Light was the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard who made mirror Choking into his slave by blackmail about her involvement in the changeling invasion. Killing him, Blaze falsified some documents and gave everything belonging to mirror Blazing to Choking who, in conjunction with Betty, finally helped Blaze partially come to terms with everything he'd done.

There was only one thing left to do so Blaze headed to the Crystal Empire to backstab Sombra as soon as the invasion happened.

When the two world connected mirror Sombra and Twilight managed to defeat both royal sisters, causing Scream to appear and gloat. Scream's real plan was to take revenge on Celestia for imprisoning Void who was her lover in Tartarus. Equestria was moments from belonging to the shadow king.

Choking and Void successfully managed to get Void's soul from its prison in Tartarus and returned to the Crystal Empire just in time to see Sombra's forces attack. Void, seeing everything is lost, tried to make Scream see reason but she was far too gone in her insanity. Seeing Choking and Void together and realizing she really wasn't in any danger from him, Blaze made his final choice and used the Blades of Balance to pierce the Corrupted Heart, causing it to explode violently and kill Sombra, mirror Twilight, Scream, and himself.

That's not where the story ended though. No, concerning the current branch reality this is where the story really began.

Void, as the keeper of the underworld, saw in young Blaze a pony similar to himself and, being infinitely more experienced and wise, wanted to give him a chance to find love in the same way Scream had given Void a chance when he was hated by most alicorns for his aspect millenia ago. Knowing, though, that Blaze's soul wasn't in the state of mind to see it like that, he made up a nonsense story about how he would be grateful if Blaze managed to travel to an alternate reality and save Scream instead of killing her. In exchange he offered Blaze that he would take care of Choking for the rest of her life. Blaze agreed and Void cast a spell that would send the unicorn to the alternate reality that could accept him.

Unfortunately, Blaze's natural ability to distort magic made the spell unstable and he ended up jumping through multiple dimensions for a year before landing in the current one. On the plus side, he still had Betty to talk to. One of the realities was one where the Elements of Harmony didn't awaken for Twilight and Nightmare Moon won, shrouding the world in darkness and slowly wiping out everything. Blaze, landing in a summoning circle of Trixie, Nightmare's apprentice, drew Nightmare Moon's attention and she used him to breed a killer species of changelings feeding on fear instead of love (her little touch), having no wings (mirroring Blaze's crippling fear of heights), and capable of transforming into only one form (a remnant of Blaze's hate for lies and deceit). Those Nightmare changelings eventually devoured all life. Trixie, seeing the Nightmare's true desire, helped Blaze continue with his dimension jumping.

Finally, Blaze arrived in the current reality and recognized it was during the Nightmare Night he saved Sharp and Luna from mirror Twilight. Overcharged by stolen magic from the jumping spell and knowing what had to happen he attacked princess Luna's carriage and killed Blazing Light native to this reality. Saving Luna and Sharp again, he immediately told Void about everything that had happened and was going to happen. Void, agreeing to cooperate, cast light on the plan of Void from Blaze's original reality and explained the truth. Blaze wasn't happy about being used (even if it was for his own good) and had two choices - do exactly the same things he'd done to achieve the correct result or really try to save Scream this time. Harboring little spark of hope that Choking wouldn't want to be with Void if Scream was alive, Blaze tried a different approach.

After being hanged and resurrected in a shiny new magical body (again) he was resolute about not going home and killing his mother even for the Blades, after all he had Betty now, so he revealed he'd killed real Blazing to Choking, Luna, and Sharp and tasked them to help Void faster this time, believing that giving Void more time to recover his power would allow him to stop Scream without having to blow up the Corrupted Heart.

Taking on Scream's mission, Blaze now knew the real reason for having to kill the three Element Bearers he had killed was because they weren't loyal to Sombra but to mirror Twilight so he had to go through the mirror world in a different way. Fortunately, after he rescued Rarity from Spike this time instead of slitting her throat AJ offered to fake her defeat in the arena thus allowing Blaze to enter Sombra's ranks again. Things led back to the Crystal Empire invasion where the royal sisters were defeated again. Unfortunately, due to Blaze working directly with mirror Twilight this time she didn't fight Luna and didn't overcharge the Corrupted Heart with magic and when Void's presence proved insufficient against Scream Blaze had to strike the Heart again.

Lacking the boiling magic inside, the Corrupted Heart just cracked instead of blowing up and all the wrath of Sombra and Scream fell upon Blaze. The damage was enough to separate the mirror world invasion point from real Equestria and before the connecting spell failed Void dragged Blaze and Scream back home. Threatening to break up with Scream (loneliness being the reason she'd gone insane in the first place), Void finally managed to make her see light and stop helping Sombra. Choking, seeing Blaze had nopony else in this world, decided to give the poor unicorn a second chance (first one in this reality) for a relationship.

Thus the first mirror invasion was successfully averted. Unfortunately, fate has a thing for kicking Blaze in the nuts.

While returning to Canterlot, the train was attacked by a new force which Blaze and Betty were able to identify as Nightmare changelings who must have followed him through dimensions somehow. Force was a strong word for a group of two dozen changelings who managed to incapacitate a train full of soldiers and even stronger for the ten remaining after clashing with the combat branch of Equestrian secret service led by Solid Steel who was supposed to keep tabs on Blaze whom the princesses didn't trust too much. The leader of the ten last Nightmares was a young changeling queen who managed to reconstruct Blaze's dimension jumping spell to save the last of her kind from starvation after successfully devouring their entire world under Nightmare Moon's influence. Twenty years passed in the dark dimension before the conquest was over but the jumping spell was focused on Blaze so it spat the changelings out at his location.

Princess Celestia wasn't too keen on having a new group of changelings settle in Equestria but as a reward for Blaze's service in stopping the invasion she offered the Nightmares a chance to live as long as they learned about life in Equestria first. Since the young changeling queen was one of the first who were born after Nightmare Moon used Blaze she considered him her father and for leading the last of her race to relative safety she recieved the name Guiding and the Light family name. The Nightmare changelings scattered to various parts of Equestria and one left for the Crystal Empire, accompanying princess Cadance who was curious about the Nightmares being able to live on love as well as fear. Seeing that was the case, Cadance talked to Choking about how she was able to forgive Blaze for killing the original Blazing Light in order to forgive queen Chrysalis and offer her a peace treaty to save the broken hive.

Everything seemed perfectly fine for a while. Guiding Light's ten Nightmares, while not greeted too warmly, were safe. Blaze and Choking started a real relationship together, growing closer than ever before. Unfortunately, Blaze's failure to kill Sombra in this reality proved a big mistake.

Sending Pinkamena Diane Pie, the Element of Suffering, to find and attack Blaze, Sombra proved he was still kicking and in an attempt to protect Choking who got in the way Blaze got seriously wounded. Pinkamena later attacked princess Celestia who was unable to defend herself from an Element bearing murderer who inflicted grievous wounds that even alicorn regeneration had difficult time healing. To protect others from being attacked, Celestia locked the throne room using her magic which, still wounded, Blaze broke and he and Choking saved princess Celestia's life. Pinkamena, in a fit of rage, cut Choking's wings off and would have killed her if Blaze, using Betty, hadn't ended the Bearer's life first. Catching Blaze exhausted, Fluttershy, the final of Sombra's loyal Element Bearers, harnessed power of the Element of Imprisonment and enslaved Blaze's mind irrevocably.

Choking, losing her wings permanently, was after her recovery summoned to Scream's pocket dimension where she recieved a vision of the future from Scream as a reward for helping release Void's soul from Tartarus completely. Unfortunately, the vision showed her some very unpleasant things - Guiding Light meeting queen Chrysalis and starting a cooperation between both hives, Void saving princess Luna from being killed by Guiding, Sharp Biscuit dying at the hooves of Blaze, and Blaze finally killing himself. Being madly in love, Choking tried what she could to stop it from happening but her efforts just helped the visions come true instead.

With the Corrupted Heart unusable to hold the stable connecting spell, Blaze, enslaved by the Element, led Sombra's new army through a new point where the mirror world and the normal one could be permanently connected again - the proximity of the Tree of Harmony. Choking warned Luna who repelled the first wave with the help of Chrysalis' changelings and the Nightguard. Unfortunately, her magic only made things worse when Blaze appeared and used the giant magical charge to obliterate the entire defending force. Sharp Biscuit, knowing princess Luna could take care of herself, protected queen Chrysalis from the spell and died in the process. Moved by his sacrifice, Chrysalis later accepted Cadance's peace proposal between ponies and changelings. Luna, furious at the loss of her closest friend, cursed Blaze with her alicorn power and banished him permanently from the realm of dreams, making him unable to sleep ever again.

Using Blaze's magic stealing ability and his own dark knowledge, Sombra captured Canterlot. Before moving north to the Crystal Empire defended by Shining Armor and Cadance, Choking found Blaze in Canterlot and told him that no matter what he did she would love him. Scream, persuaded by Void to help matters to repay Blaze and Choking's help, found Blaze as well and returned the diary he'd been writing since the day he ran away from home. Blaze's split personality, instead of blaming him for everything, was moved by Choking's devotion to Blaze and, feeling he was worth it, sacrificed itself to the mind-control effect of the Element and destroyed itself, freeing Blaze.

Unfortunately, the princesses were still captured and there was nopony to help Blaze against Sombra anymore. On top of that, Luna's curse, only made stronger by Blaze's magical body keeping him alive by force, proved too much of a torture and the weeks without sleep drove Blaze insane. When the Crystal Empire fell Sombra linked both worlds again using himself as the link to the Corrupted Heart and revealed his true plan while sealing himself and Blaze in the throne room.

Sombra explained the reason Blaze was so resillient was the spell Scream used to resurrect him. As the most powerful magic user alive, Scream inherited the final gift of the alicorn of Life - the power to give new existence without the need to resort to unstable necromancy, true immortality rivaling alicorns. Sombra kept Blaze alive just so he could use him to beat the princesses and finally take over his body and claim the immortality for himself. Sombra activated the final part of Scream's spell and Blaze's part-changeling body broke apart and was reborn back into his original and uncrippled unicorn form, returning Blaze's horn, leg, and breaking Void's alicorn power which caused Blaze to lose sight in one eye. Underestimating half-insane and broken Blaze, Sombra's takeover attempt didn't work immediately and both minds tangled together, breaking the dimension linking spell and sending everypony to their respective worlds. The side effect of the linking spell was that everypony would appear at the point of the original connection and Blaze's mindless body was teleported back to the Everfree Forest portal site.

The unexplained end of the second mirror invasion set several things in motion.

Choking, despising Luna for what she did to Blaze, searched through the Everfree portal site and found out that a unicorn of Blaze's colors was found wandering aimlessly through the forest and the guards led him to Ponyville mental hospital. Leaving the Nightguard, Choking moved to Ponyville and got a job taking care of the patients. Not caring that Blaze didn't recognize her or react whatsoever, she stayed with him and hoped one day his mind would come back.

Queen Chrysalis, wanting to keep an eye on the Elements of Harmony, sent a group of elite changelings to watch over Ponyville. Celestia, worried about Chrysalis' plans, sent her own group of soldiers led by Heavy Hoof to watch the changelings. The changelings, led by commander Shadowstep, were only partially loyal to Chrysalis and used the time camping near Ponyville to have some fun and one night hunted Heavy's troops to gain some food without real desire to hurt them. Horatio Cross, Shadowstep's master of arms, used Sharp Biscuit's form copied from Heavy's mind to fool Heavy without knowing Sharp was dead. Heavy went berserk and attacked Cross, losing miserably but not stopping the assault until he hurt himself more than Cross had. Feeling terrible, Cross mulled over Heavy's dedication and a spark of love grew inside the changeling, a spark which later made lonely Heavy slowly reciprocate the feeling.

Unfortunately for Choking, Heavy saw her and Blaze in Ponyville. Blaming Blaze for Sharp's death, he wanted to tell Luna Blaze was alive but Choking threatened to kill him. Unwilling to fight his friend, Heavy decided to listen to the whole story and left Choking and Blaze alone after that.

Luna, on the other hoof, was mourning Sharp's death and became a target for the Nightmare, the god which had possessed her before the Elements freed her, who invaded her mind in the form of memory of Sharp talking to her. Pretending to care about Equestria, it guided Luna to look for a way to destroy the Tree of Harmony to prevent any further contact with the mirror world, a thing that could happen only if Discord and Nightmare joined forces to do so as Luna learned from Scream.

Scream felt Nightmare's presence in Luna and tasked Void to prevent Discord from interfering, something which the god of chaos agreed to do in exchange for Void himself not involving himself in what was about to happen. Luna, changing back into Nightmare Moon, attacked Celestia and cast a long-term sleep spell on her to prevent her from ruining the plan to destroy the Tree of Harmony to make the Elements powerless and her unstoppable. When that proved impossible due to Void's intervention, she decided to kill him to release Discord from his promise.

Before the attack, Celestia sent Twilight Sparkle, new princess of diplomatic relations and friendship, to find out whether or not Guiding Light would honor Chrysalis' peace treaty. The concern was valid because Guiding knew what Luna did to Blaze and ordered all Nightmare changelings to return to the new hive in Pine Hills. Only one changeling didn't return because he was too far, number Five who was by princess Cadance's side at the time. While Twilight was in Pine Hills negotiating, Luna ruled over Canterlot and made things appear as if Twilight was the one who had attacked Celestia in order to gain the alicorn's power which she temporarily had possessed during lord Tirek's attack. Twilight, accompanied by One, Guiding Light's changeling body double, infiltrated Canterlot and got the whole story from Celestia after dispelling the sleep magic. Having to flee from the mind-controlled Nightguards, they faced heavily weakened Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon was able to break Scream's mind to find out where Void was hiding but her attacking Void in the underworld proved a terrible mistake when he mercilessly wiped the floor with her using souls of the dead as a shield. Thanks to that mistake Twilight was able to face Nightmare Moon and flee in time, sacrificing One.

Twilight tried to teleport to her new tree castle in Ponyville but in panic overshot and ended up in Shadowstep's encampment. The changelings offered help in fighting Nightmare Moon and got ready to protect the other Element Bearers.

Guiding Light, recieving the final thoughts of One, gathered her changelings and teleported them to Ponyville in order to stop what had happened in their world from happening here as well.

Nightmare Moon wasn't stupid though and right after Luna broke for the first time she found a mercenary and gave him two jobs - finding Blaze because she thought Choking knew something she didn't and was afraid of another invasion (fulfilling Luna's remaining concerns to gain her trust) and gathering all the Element Bearers in one place 'to keep them safe'. The mercenary's name was Icy Gaze and he was good at his job. Blaze's trail led Icy to Ponyville where he found both him and Choking, captured the Element Bearers successfully (all but Twilight), and recieved a lot of money. Unfortunately for Nightmare Moon, Icy wasn't a murderer so when she ordered him next to kill the Bearers he panicked and tried to escape but it was too late.

Nightmare Moon appeared in Ponyville ready to wipe out all opposition so foolishly gathered in one place.

While all this was going on, a fight was going on in Blaze's mind between the soul of Sombra and shards of Blaze's personalities. Uniting the pieces of his mind, Blaze won but was too weak to surface and so a new personality with amnesia appeared in Blaze's body. Choking tried to rebuild the relationship but the new Blaze had no idea who she was and her forceful approach only made things worse.

When, based on Icy's information, Luna's mind-controlled Nightguards started moving to Ponyville Choking tried to hide Blaze's presence but they were found out. Queen Chrysalis arrived to save them and distracted the Nightguards with her changelings disguised as copies of Blaze. Choking, seeing Blaze wouldn't be useful whatsoever if Luna found them, sent him away with Chrysalis and got ready to face the Nightguards.

Chrysalis had a different plan though. Delving deep into Blaze's mind she offered the weak soul of Sombra a deal. Sombra would help Blaze come back and in turn she would make him return as well. Blaze would be alive and Sombra would have enough time to study the magic of Life that repeatedly kept Blaze alive from inside his body. Sombra agreed and allowed Blaze to steal his power when both returned to Ponyville and fought Nightmare Moon.

Unfortunately, the god proved too strong and the power of Life which made Blaze's natural magic appear only in the form of phoenix wings (phoenix, rebirth, huh, huh?) serving as a fire shield got twisted into the power of true death when Blaze stole a bit of Nightmare's power. The power of true death was enough to cripple the god but burned Blaze alive as well because no mortal was supposed to ever wield it, only Void as an alicorn could. With Blaze dead (again), Cross scanned Luna's mind for the reason she fell to the Nightmare and, transforming into Sharp Biscuit again, comforted the broken princess, causing her to cast off the Nightmare's influence.

Guiding Light, seeing Luna was defenseless, tried to kill her for very understandable reasons (first torturing and then causing the death of her dad) but was stopped by Void who broke the promise to Discord.

After dust settled, Choking was back in Canterlot drinking herself stupid. Luna asked her to fill Sharp's place as her bodyguard, saying she didn't need a friend guard anymore but somepony who wouldn't hesitate to correct her if she steered wrong again. Choking refused and kept drinking. Her second visitor was Void who offered her a chance to forget her pain by locking the memories of Blaze away. Unable to bear the pain of loss, Choking agreed and Void's magic gave her new wings as well. Not understanding why she hated Luna anymore, she agreed to become her bodyguard.

Guiding returned to Pine Hills and resent her changelings to learn about Equestria, Icy Gaze got imprisoned because he knew too much with the official reason being the capture of the Element Bearers, Cross and Heavy entered a stable relationship, and almost everypony was happy.

Discord, however, was mad that Void spoiled his fun and, using his divine powers, resurrected Blaze just to allow him to see Choking one more time. Laughing at the unicorn's pain when Choking didn't recognize him, Discord stopped the spell keeping Blaze alive and he returned back to ash, the only remains of him after being burned by the black fire of true death.

Sombra had other plans though. Having only short time to study the magic of Life, he was able to give Blaze a completely new body which nopony would recognize and thanks to that the unicorn was back again. Unfortunately for Sombra, Blaze, having lost everything that mattered to him, had no reason and desire to live.

Still no clue about how ponies became allies with the mirror world, huh?

Enter a young griffon soldier named Cromach. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances he had to leave the Griffon Empire while being chased by the Imperial Legion and bounty hunters on a partially false charge. Fleeing successfully to Equestria, he met a unicorn who called himself Mistake and stopped him from jumping down from Canterlot city walls. With Crom being a soldier he wanted to join the Royal Guard and thanks to Mistake's knowledge of the inner workings of the castle he succeeded in joining the recruit training.

The bounty hunters didn't stop chasing Crom though and when he asked Mistake for help the unicorn told him to steal an amulet from Choking Darkness and when in trouble call somepony called Betty for help. One night Crom got captured by a sadistic hunter and would have died if it weren't for a flying sword killing the attacker. The sword was wery angry Crom called him Betty but also curious about how Crom knew about him, leading Blaze (Mistake) under his new name to regain his Element. Mistake's combat skillset being fairly unique, Heavy Hoof was able to guess Mistake's identity but needed to make sure.

When Mistake suddenly disappeared Blaze, Choking, and Cromach tracked him thtrough the newly opened mirror world portal. Mistake asked mirror Twilight for help in getting rid of Sombra inside him forever but she didn't know how to do that so he chose the brute force approach. Knowing Sombra somehow lived inside him as magic force, Mistake forced all of his magic to the Corrupted Heart and finally broke it completely with the help of Betty, getting rid of mirror Sombra once and for all.

When the Heart shattered a dimension jumping portal opened and the original Blazing Light from this reality returned with massively enhanced powers (Blazing's seem to be really difficult to get rid of) and took away Mistake's eye and leg. Crom, knowing from Blaze's diary how he opened the new mirror portal in the first place broke the catalyst keeping the portal open and the four of them returned back to the Everfree forest.

Mistake died of his wounds few days later (this time for real, not that it stopped him).

Crom, devastated at the failure of the rescue attempt, recieved an offer to return back to the Griffon Empire stripped of all charges in exchange for classified information about pony military structure. Returning home, he was betrayed by the secret service agent that offered him the freedom and the information Crom gave to the agents allowed the Empire to launch a devastating invasion of Equestria.

The griffon agents didn't account for one thing - that Blaze considered himself so useless even death itself didn't want him. While no amount of Luna's healing magic was able to keep him alive, the remains of Sombra's dark magic were enough for mirror Twilight to revive him as an undead on Luna's plea. Mirror Twilight gladly helped as a reward for saving her world from Sombra and sent her forces to protect Equestria from the griffon attack. With Blaze slowly recovering, he asked mirror Twilight to help him in saving Cromach and she let him use her warship which Blaze named Lightbringer, just for the fun of it. In the need of services of somepony knowing his way around the Griffon Empire, Blaze enlisted the help of Icy Gaze and in return Icy's sentence would be cut in half. The rescue mission was successful for all sides involved, well... most of the good guys. Cromach wasn't executed, Blaze got his new friend (who was madly in love with him) back, Choking got to beat Icy up few more times for him ratting her out in Ponyville, and Icy himself managed to get the blueprints of the Lightbringer for personal use.

There was one last thing to unveil and that was the presence of the original Blazing Light who was supposed to be dead.

Blazing turned up to gain control of the Order of the Silver Sun and sent an assassin to kill princess Luna. All that was a ruse he used to manipulate the Order members to do his bidding in order to gain the Blades of Balance which he wanted to use to kill Blaze without giving him a chance to return. The confrontation of Blaze (Mistake) and original Blazing Light ended favorably due to Cromach and Choking recovering the Blades faster than Order agents but Blaze went blind as a result of the explosion which levelled the entire Order headquarters.

And so we're here, right at the beginning of this story.

Mistake has been through a lot an now he's completely unable to take care of himself. Fortunately for him, despite Cromach and Choking being locked in the battle for his affection they decided unanimously on one key thing - all of them deserve a vacation.

And what's better...

...princess Luna is paying for everything.


	2. Packing: Too Much To Handle

_All enemies are gone and I can rest at long last. There might be some aftermath and there might not. Well, there will surely be but it's not my fight anymore. There are other problems I'll have to deal with but they are minor._

 _Blindness, future... all those are meaningless. Crom, Chokey, and Heavy are alive and well, Equestria is temporarily safe, thanks to the offer of military assistance from mirror Twilight, and the royal sisters can deal with anything mundane._

 _Finally, my tomorrow doesn't matter._

* * *

It was a normal day in the Griffon Empire. Black Ops were plotting taking over the entire world, normal citizens were terrified of possible pony invasion, and in one small border fortress situated on the Imperial coastline a commander of said garrison was clutching a pen in his talons and filling out a form requesting more supplies of toilet paper. Well, someone had to do it and if that was the worst thing today had in store for the griffon then he would be happy.

Do I really have to continue that line of thought? I doubt it.

The first new problem came with the knocking on the door of his office which interrupted his zen-like focus, causing him to twitch his arm and completely screw the entire form up. The second problem, or the same one suddenly getting much worse, came in the form of a griffon opening said door without waiting for the commander's permission. Before the fortress leader could start yelling at the disruptive intruder he fortunately had the presence of mind to look up from the paper ripped into pieces by his claws first.

The insult sending the entering griffon to evaluate the potential usage of toilet paper after chilli night stopped before leaving the commander's beak. The entering griffon was wearing the official black jacket with golden embroidery belonging to the Imperial Secret Service meaning that if the commander said something inappropriate the Black Ops agent could have had HIM gather all the information about bathroom accessories including their taste... after being used. Freeing the talons stuck in the wooden workdesk, the commander stood up and saluted.

"What brings you here, sir?"

The Black Ops griffon smiled widely at the commander's barely concealed rage.

"Agent Pranks, at your service. I come bearing ill news for the area under your watch. According to our intelligence, there will be a group of possible Equestrian spies arriving to your region in about a week."

The commander paled. So the rumors were true... ponies repelled the griffon attack and wanted revenge.

"F-for what reason, sir?"

"Officially, just a vacation. Unofficially... we're not sure but one of them is a unicorn potentially on the power level of Equestrian princesses."

"WHAT?" the commander jumped and his wings swiped everything from his desk, "We're not equipped to deal with that! What do you want us to do? Wait... aren't you supposed to have some ID or something?"

The agent scowled.

"You don't need to see any ID," he looked the commander into his eyes.

The terrified griffon behind the desk shook his head and rubbed his temples.

"I don't need... what were you saying, sir? I must have dazed off for a second there, too much patrolling to do, not enough soldiers."

"Keep an eye on the spies, they might attract attention of someone else. If they prove a threat then capture or kill them."

"But how, sir? I mean... magic."

"A distraction and a bullet from behind works on everyone, magic or not. Capture and interrogation is preferred though, don't be afraid of using some mild torture just to push them over the edge."

"What does that mean, sir?"

"I want to see him break again, heh... that was fun."

"What?"

"Nothing. Get on with it!"

"Yes, sir."

Smiling to himself, agent Pranks left the office. Finding a toy that wouldn't break after one use was so difficult these days.

Back in the office, the commander stood and watched the small coast town under his guard through a conveniently placed window. He wasn't too scared of ponies, unlike most uneducated citizens, because the little town was called Golden Sands and served mostly as a luxury holiday resort for wealthy patrons. Species didn't matter after all, only gold did.

Cursing to noone in particular, the commander stepped out of his office to take a short break. He wasn't in the mood to abuse the poor guard staring blankly at the wall and ignoring him so he just knocked on his helmet.

"Up for some chocolate milk, private?"

"Huh? Sorry, sir, blanked out for a second there. Thank you for the offer but no, I hate that stuff."

"Funny... so do I. I just feel like I should give it another try for some reason. If the Black Ops guy comes again tell him I'm grabbing a drink."

"Black Ops guy?" the private asked but didn't get an answer.

Humming to himself, the commander left for the mess hall.

* * *

Entering the protected laboratory in the Canterlot castle dungeons, I look around just to see bits and pieces of projects in progress making me think the owner of this place is interested in EVERYTHING. Speaking of the owner, Twilight Sparkle is currently breathing heavily and staring at a blue-maned black unicorn with twitching ears looking in my direction with faded pink eyes. Twilight's frown tells me the experiments she wanted to perform on Mistake didn't go too well.

"Hello, your Highness. You sent for me?" I ask the purple alicorn princess.

"Hi, Crom!" Mistake waves at me. The gesture is a bit off but the heart is there and that's what counts.

"Yes, I'm done. Tell your friend I hate him," Twilight groans at Mistake's amused snort hidden behind a hoof.

"I'm blind, not deaf, your Highness," the unicorn's grin fades when he says that and he 'looks' at the tiled floor.

Mistake, me, and Darky returned from Manehattan yesterday and princess Luna spent her day interrogating the other two while I went home and had a rest. I didn't feel that bad about it because, to be honest, Darky and Mistake have known each other for way longer and actually had an idea what happened while I was basically trying not to die while facing way more magic than a simple griffon ever should.

"What were you doing here anyway?" I try not to laugh at the disgruntled alicorn princess wearing a lab coat and the black unicorn whose coat is really nicely contrasting with the pink socks and a scarf he's wearing. He spent his first night blind at Darky's place so she had the honor of putting something to protect him from winter on and this is how it ended. Not that he looks bad in it, pink just doesn't fit his... personality.

Princess Twilight waves to one of many workbenches on which something very similar to the husks I fought in the mirror world lies. On closer examination there are noticeable differences but it still seems to be a pony made of metal and cables. It doesn't have anything resembling a mane or a tail but the grey steel plates imitate pony shape quite nicely.

"I'm building a robotic pony capable of independent thinking, it's not going too well. Your friend was just lending a hoof with some magic dampening experiments."

"Didn't work? I thought Mistake was practically immune to magic."

"HE IS! That's the problem. I can't perform tests on him when he disperses anything I can throw at him with a single thought."

"Actually, I have to know how you are building the spell to disassemble it. If you use a process I can't identify in time your magic will work just fine. From what Betty told me earthpony ancestry itself doesn't grant you even minor magic resistance"

"I know, princess Luna told me about your encounter when her old bodyguard was trying to stop you. The thing is that even she has trouble using spells against you. Nevermind, I'll just have to find a better testing method. Thank you for the help anyway, I think I'll be able to use some energy crystals to allow the robopony absorb small amounts of magic if necessary."

"No problem, your Highness."

"Just call me Twilight. By the way, sorry for not being able to help you with your eyes."

"It's okay, princess. I'll just have to buy a thick bumper and hang it on my neck."

"I've got the leash right here," I interject and grin at Mistake's immediate blush, "I might even make you wear it at home."

Twilight's horn shoots out sparks and her wings burst out with an audible 'pomf'. Mistake's face could now melt the steel of the workbench.

"Well, ehm, good. As per our arrangement I'll persuade princess Luna you deserve something for your efforts in Manehattan," Twilight pushes both of us out of the lab, "Now go! I need to do some research... alone... right now."

The door slams shut and I fasten the leash to the choker around Mistake's neck. Tugging at it carefully, I slowly lead the unicorn through the castle halls.

"I didn't need eyes to see that wingboner," Mistake comments.

"Let the young princess enjoy her pony on griffon fantasy. Too much time locked up down here can't be healthy. Speaking of which, how are you feeling? We didn't have any time to talk since Manehattan."

Aside from the show I gave the other recruits I had to attend Heavy's training session and Darky led Mistake to Twilight's lab. I gotta admit two hours of physical training have never felt so long.

Mistake sighs, something he does way too much for being so young.

"Terrified, Cro. I've never wanted to be a bother and that's all I am now."

 **...useless trash...**

Was I the only one who heard the whisper?

"Nonsense, buddy. It's gonna get better, it always does," I realize I'm telling it to a unicorn whose life got gradually darker until this point. I cough, "I'll take care of you as long as you need it."

"I don't want to- to bring you down. I'm just-"

 **...a cripple...**

"No!" I quickly interrupt him. Does the air suddenly feel colder? "It's just the first day, that's all. You've been through so much dumb stuff that this is literally nothing and I'll stay by your side."

"-"

"No, shut up, I'm not done!" something about the situation frightens me and I can't help raising my voice, "I know you and I know you are your worst enemy. I know none of what I'm going to say will get into that thick skull of yours but I have to say it anyway. I WILL be by your side, I WILL help you, and I WILL get you through this even if it means carrying you day after day on my back. Heck, at least Heavy's physical exercise will be a bit more challenging. Just, please, stop resisting."

I know how meaningless saying it is... I'll just have to show you, honey.

Mistake takes a step forward, slips on the frozen cobblestones, and plants his face into the snow.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

 **...for being an idiot...**

He's not saying it so what is it?

The chilly air of the evening suddenly seems to warm up a little.

"-I'm just not used to things being like this. I've always tried to avoid ponies but things just kept happening. I suppose I'll have to come to terms with having somepony who actually likes me around."

"That's the spirit, buddy," I tug at the leash and wrap a wing around his back, enjoying every muscle movement under his coat, "We're almost home and all I want is to have a shower and curl into bed. You're welcome to join at any point."

He nuzzles my neck.

"Glad you're... well, you. Thanks for keeping me around."

"Can't leave the big hero hanging. Well," I look at the unicorn just over half of my size, "small and cuddly hero."

At least he seems to have cheered up a little.

 **...until you find somepony better...**

Or not.

This is going to be difficult.


	3. Packing: Not Alone

_Every time I hear Cro's warm voice something stirs inside me, something yelling at me that it's wrong and that he should be spending his time enjoying himself and not having to take care about me._

 _I'm beginning to think the problem is somewhere completely different. It's difficult to believe that I faced gods, evil tyrants, avatars of immeasurable power and yet I'm still terrified of talking to Cro just on the off chance I say something that will drive him away which, in turn, screws me over anyway._

 _The thing is that I'm nopony special and that he can easily find somepony better but it is me who needs him. I must do something for him, if not to keep him happy then just to help myself not feel so... worthless. Maybe, just maybe, it would help to think about this simply as of an another battle. Who is the enemy though?_

 _No... the answer is simple. It's been the same since I left home over four years ago. I am my worst enemy and my fear is the only threat I'm facing right now. Too bad it's the only foe I have never managed to beat._

 _Hmmm, that doesn't seem correct. My special talent has always been analysis and right now I think I'm wrong. I've been terrified every day of my life but that has never stopped me from moving on, although quite often it was in the wrong direction. Did I really believe there was a little glimmer of hope somewhere at the end?_

 _Hope and Despair, black and white circles, two minds in one body, fire and frost, rebirth and true death..._

 _...not death, that's not the opposite. The right answer is the lack of any possibility of new life. It's rebirth and something I can't quite tell yet because the magic of Life negated Void's true death without being spent._

 _I'm starting to think Void was wrong about me being a possible ascendant into the alicorn of Death's position._

 _I might be onto something here._

* * *

I blink. The darkness in the apartment tells me it's too early to be awake and neither me nor Mistake are early-rising creatures, at least normally. Lying on my back, I turn my head just to see the black silouhette of the unicorn sitting still on the small bed and breathing quickly. Sitting up as well, I put my arm on his shoulder.

"Aaah!" is a weak squeal following the gesture and him twitching away at first. When his breathing slows down almost instantly he turns to me, "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"Probably," I shrug, "No big deal. What's bothering you?"

That's a safe guess. There's always something gnawing at him from the inside. What I wasn't expecting is the small and weary smile and a sigh.

"Just... just another panic attack. You know how it is - wake up, have no idea where you are, see nothing, hear snoring-"

I feel like one very important issue needs to be addressed right here and now.

"I don't snore!"

He giggles like a chime in the wind and once again I realize how much I love the... duality of this unicorn - how he's grateful for what little attention somepony gives him, repaying it thousandfold, and how dark he can be, revealing wisdom gained from the insane events he's gone through.

I mean everypony must have hazarded a guess when they saw us walking home yesterday - a tall, white griffon leading a much smaller black unicorn wearing pink socks on a leash - but it's not like that. I don't just want to tie him up and ravage that tight, trained behind of his until he remembers nothing but my name... no, I want so much more. I want to be with him, to hear his soft snicker when I'm being stupid, to hold him against my chest when he turns on himself again, and to have him do something downright dangerous when I need it.

All that happened.

"No, you actually don't," he comments, turns to me, and taps his hoof few times on the bed until he touches me, "Damn, thanks for being so patient with me. I know I'm difficult to be around."

Yep! But I'll reassure you as many times as you need it.

"No biggie, as long as I can watch you shower."

"You want some of this, eh?" he runs his hoof from his neck down, leading my stare with it. It's not like I can see anything in the morning gloom but that doesn't stop my imagination whatsoever.

I do! Can I have seconds after?

Not waiting for an answer, Mistake stands up above me, carefully moving his legs so he doesn't step anywhere sensitive, and then slowly lowers himself to let his entire body rub my chest, belly, and lower...

"What's gotten into you, buddy?" I stifle a moan, "Not that I'm complaining but you've never been this... forward... and downward."

He stops, crossing his front legs on my chest and propping his muzzle on them. I regret not feeling him rubbing over me anymore but being still like this means I can pull a blanket over us and let our bodies meld into one warm, fuzzy blob.

"I just wanted to repay you all you're doing for me. I had no idea how since I didn't have any money to get you something you'd like and then you said... you know what and I thought it might not be a bad idea to try stuff out."

That's not really the right motivation but I'll take it.

"Buddy, when I take you out to Cromach bangstravaganza you 'owing' me anything will be the last thing on my mind. I know it's hard for you to understand but I love you and relationship isn't a balanced checkbook."

"Bangstr- Heavens protect me! Sorry, Cro. I just really want to do something for you."

"Well, not this, at least not like this. Darky said you're pretty good at massages though."

"What sort?"

"The wilder sort but not the happy ending sort."

"Ooooh! Well, I can't promise anything since I can't see much but I'll give it a shot. Just kick me if I'm doing something wrong," he chuckles nervously, "Do you want front or back first?"

"Front. That way I can look at your cute face- OH COME ON! You can't be blushing NOW when a moment ago you were rubbing your whatsowhat against mine!"

"Compliments," he groans, "Not good with them."

"Better get used to it cause you're getting much mo-oooooooh."

My world melts when he digs his hooves into my chest. With his expertise in martial arts and muscle movements he doesn't need eyes at all. Thank Emperor he doesn't mind me being way too obviously aroused beyond belief.

"EEP!" I can't believe how high-pitched my sqeak is as he bites my inner thigh.

"Heh heh heh..."

I just close my eyes and let him do his job. He might not be able to be a guard anymore but with a little of official training he'll be an epic masseuse. The hooves digging into every muscle aching after Heavy's training, the muzzle adding the soft touch that makes me shiver, the way his toned body slides over mine, the tentacles slithering over my neck...

Uh oh.

Open one eye. Nothing, the massage continues.

Open the other. Mistake is still working his hooves all over my chest like a cat trying to sleep.

Don't panic! It's weird but not threatening, at least for now.

It takes me few seconds to identify what I'm seeing. Mistake is still there, the black unicorn kneading my muscles into submission. With how tense I'm right now he must really be sweating and panting. Speaking of panting, few strange black-blue tentacles are coming from the open mouth and wriggling through the feathers on my neck. Funnily enough, that's not the scary part, although definitely the creepy one.

Okay... it's just his magic acting up for some reason. No big deal, no body snatcher trying to eat my brain. Still, the sweet, gloomy unicorn, not some eldrich abomination out of the darkest depths of the sea. His blackfrost wings are showing, spread above us and glimmering in the dim light coming through the window curtain. It looks strange, the feathers made of blue-tipped black ice adorning a unicorn seemingly unaware of their presence, like something watching both of us.

It might not be the smartest idea but I tug at one of the tentacles coming from Mistake's mouth. It coils around my claws rather cutely.

"Hey! Stop pulling my tongue-"

He stops.

"-or horn? What are you doing, Cro?"

"Wanna try a third time?" I tug at the second tentacle.

"How are you doing that and what 'that' is?" he asks and his wings creak menacingly.

"Well, no matter how confused you are right now it has nothing on me almost crapping myself when I opened my eyes so give me a second to breathe. Horn you said?" I tug on one mouth tentacle again and rub his horn at the same time.

"Haaaah, n-n-n-no," his wings silently shatter and each little ice shard disperses into steam, "P-p-please don't do that again, whatever it was... at least not without some warning first."

"Sorry. Did it hurt?"

"N-not e-e-exactly," he nervously taps his hooves on my chest. I've never seen him this shaken, "Sort of strange... as if you were, well, rubbing me from the inside."

My fantasies right now could fill a moderately long perverted book... with drawings... and author notes and my grin would make a cheshire cat go 'nope, too much for me'.

"Cool, cool... so what do we do about the tentacles coming from your mouth?-"

He tilts his head and blinks, a strange gesture from a blind pony.

"-Perhaps a pretty cool blowj-OW!" a free tentacle slaps me, "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" he furrows his brows and like a noodle being sucked in one tentacle retracts. All aside from the one I'm holding in my claws follow, "Weird, tastes like lemon popsicle."

Fantasy number one - engage!

Coiling my tongue around the tendril, I suck hard on it.

"Yeah, it does."

"HEY! That's my... something you're doing whatever you're doing to."

"Very descriptive. Let's be serious for a second, buddy. Any ideas?"

"I'm blind, I'm a unicorn who can't use any spells aside from some weird power that only the alicorn of Death recognized, and right now I feel like I have five tongues beginning in my horn and coming out of my mouth. Set me on fire, please! I promise not to come back this time," he chuckles nervously but I can hear the touch of panic in the voice.

"I've got a better one," I stop playing with the last tendril and Mistake sucks it in to my slight dismay, "We go back to sleep, think about it in the daylight-"

"Very useful, Cro, very useful," he pouts, rolling his eyes.

"-Quiet, you, or next time I'll tie you to the table! We calm down, don't tell anyone, and I'll stop myself from imagining all the possible places those things can fit."

"Aaaah... I'm glad you're here, Cro. I'd be cowering in the corner if you weren't, or something worse."

"Do you have any idea how bored I would be if I didn't have my hands full with cheering you up? A griffon can only handle so much free time."

"Dumbass," he grins, "Look what I can do now!-"

Two tendrils return, each one curling down from one side of his muzzle.

"-I've got a moustache."

I pull the idiot down to my embrace and draw the blanket over us, something I do every night and wouldn't trade for the world.

"Shut up, pillow!"

"I like pillows," he mumbles, spooned by me, "Being a pillow is nice."

I'm out like a light even before his breathing slows down.


	4. Packing: Glorious Morning

_There are two sides to every coin. Whenever somepony falls too deep they need somepony to pick them up and when success seems to be coming from every direction there MUST be somepony or something to keep their hooves on the ground._

 _What if there truly isn't anypony there in the time of need?_

 _Loneliness can inspire the greatest resourcefulness but also bring the darkest shadows. Some ponies call it insanity but all that means is a different and unusual point of view. The conflict between objective and subjective reality can't last forever though and has to be resolved somehow._

 _However, that is in the past. I'm not alone..._

 _...as long as I recognize my responsibility._

 _My friends are giving me the care I don't deserve in the slightest so the least I can do is give what little is in my power back._

* * *

"Look at my whorse," I sing to myself and wave a fork while watching eggs sizzle on a frying pan, "My whorse is amazing."

*Thud*

"OW! DAMMIT!" Mistake falls from the bed, yawns, and rubs his muzzle.

"Give him a lick," I continue, unphased, walk to the unicorn, and lick his horn from the bottom to the tip slowly, "Mmmm, he tastes just like Blazing."

"Wazawawhoo?" he leans back so far his hind legs slip and he lands on his plot.

 _Mmmmm plot._

"Have a stroke of his mane," I help him up and scratch him behind an ear, "He turns into a..."

 _Rhyming's too hard._

"...flame! Got it!"

"Do I smell eggs and, hmm, burning flesh?" he smacks his lips and sniffs the air.

"Eggs and bacon. I finally had the time to visit a griffon trader here in Canterlot," I flip the sizzling bacon over, "...and he turns back again when you tug on his humm humm."

"What was that?"

"NOTHING!" I snatch some more salt and spread it on the egg whites. Mistake likes eggs sunny side up, strangely enough for a pony, but the amount of salt he enjoys in his food makes me wonder what sort of military-grade armor is his mouth lined with, "Look at my whorse, my whorse is amazing..."

"I'm not a whorse," he puffs his cheeks when he finally realizes the context of the tune.

"Not the fastest in the morning, are you?"

"Oh shut up," he sticks his tongue out, "Thanks for making breakfast."

"You know, you get breakfast, I get to grope you at night," busy with looking for the seasonings I enjoy, I get back to my fun, "Look at my-"

"I'll stick my tentacles so far down your throat not even Celestia will find them!"

"Told you, you're a terrible kisser."

"GAAH!" he grunts and throws his forelegs to the sky, "You're insufferable when you are in a good mood-"

"And you're cute when you're trying to find something to complain about."

"-Grrrr. What's so special today anyway?"

"Well, I woke up by myself. Living with you, that's an achievement. No guards knocking on our door, no panicked screams, no magical mishap, and no horrible nightmare about what evil is coming after us next. That tells me today is gonna be just fine."

Both of us go silent and look around. Nothing happens.

"Hope you didn't jinx it," Mistake mumbles.

"Look at my-"

*Thud*

"OH FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE! Who moved the damn door?" Mistake rubs his muzzle again and walks into the bathroom, leaving me to my joyful morning.

 _Wouldn't trade it for the world._

Now, since princess Twilight said she would send us on a vacation with all expenses paid we should ask her the details.

The breakfast is done. It's nothing fancy but bacon, eggs, and some bread is about as much as I can make without a cookbook. Holding a tray in one arm, I set it on the table. As much as I like the coziness of this place we might need something with at least two rooms soon, or one room and a small kitchen. Having to cook with an electric pan lying on a small wardrobe filled with cutlery and spice is starting to feel a bit too improvised. Perhaps I should have stuck with sandwiches.

Heavy's practice session starts in just over an hour so even a bigger breakfast like this won't be troubling as I'll walk it off on the way to the castle.

"I wonder," I say while chewing, "are you going to continue your guard training?"

Mistake sighs.

"I doubt it. Kicking and punching was the only thing I was good at and now it's sort of useless."

"Well, how about becoming a masseuse?"

"What? First of all, I have no official training and I'm not sure I'd be any good at it, and the second thing is that I can't afford going to a class or something. When I helped you enlist in the Royal Guard I sort of had no idea I would end up going to the mirror world again and then not actually attending any practice sessions. I don't think I'm eligible for a recruit salary anyway."

"I'm sure if you ask princess Luna she'll-"

"I don't want to beg for help."

"You need it and it's not begging. The sisters know you deserve their attention and, as little as I know princess Luna, she'll help you if you just open your mouth. If you really don't want to talk about it then let me arrange it for you."

He thoughtfully chews the eggs for a moment. He gulps.

"Do you think I have a chance?"

"Yeah. You have great feel for muscle tension and I know a pegasus who could teach you."

 _Don't ask about it! Don't ask about it!_

"I sense a catch incoming. How did YOU get to know a masseuse with all that was happening after you arrived in Canterlot?"

"The usual way, of course. I saw Jones in the castle lobby with a griffon ambassador, I wanted to look different so I found the first cheap manedresser I could, I flirted a little with her, she bathed me in a dye and slipped in herself. You have no idea how attractive mares find a tall griffon who could overpower them and fulfill their submission fantasy. It turned out she used to work in a pervy massage parlor and one night we had a lot of fun. She was pretty tiny and she could slip her hooves inside my-"

"And you'd like me to do that to somepony?"

"YES."

"Somepony other than you."

"YES! Under my... supervision."

"And you, of course."

"Yessssss."

"You really have a one track mind."

"And that track leads to a dark tunnel. It's important to be consistent. So, what do you say?"

"If you're comfortable with me groping other ponies for money."

"As long as I get to grope you for free."

"Fine then..."

"Don't look as if I'm forcing you to eat broccoli."

"It's important to be consistent."

"You're trying my patience, buddy."

"Sorry. It's just that now I'm scared I'll fail at the massage thing, that I'll fail you... and so on."

"That's nonsense."

"I keep telling myself but there's nothing I can do. It doesn't just go away."

"It's either my pegasus friend or I'll find a psychiatrist."

"Nooooooope."

"An EXPENSIVE ONE!"

"Dirtbag."

"And I'll pay for therapy with my life savings."

"You wouldn't!"

"And then you'll REALLY feel bad!"

"Buck you!"

"Now we're talking. Care to elaborate?-"

He just growls and bites into a slice of bread.

"-Perfect! Angry sex, best sex. Speaking of burning calories, I should go to the morning session. Are you coming as well?"

"Yeah. I've got to talk to Heavy and Chokey about some special training suitable for me so I don't get fat."

"More of you to love."

"You don't mean that."

"Actually, you're right, I don't. If you're out of shape you won't be able to work me harder than a-"

"How much do I have to pay to ransom your brain from your cock? I'm starting to get them mixed up."

"A kiss should do it."

He leans in but given his lack of practice I take charge.

 _Emperor's titanum claws! The tentacles. It's like kissing four chicks at once. Four chicks who aren't sure what they're doing but quantity over quality._

"Tomorrownight!" Mistake blurts out after the magical appendages slip back in.

I blink, still processing the unnatural mouth to mouth.

"Are you talking about what I'm thinking?"

"I'm talking about the only thing you think about," he grins.

I open my mouth, wave my talons in the air, shut my mouth.

"Can you stay tonight at Darky's place?"

"Uhm, sure. Why?"

"I'm going shopping."

 _Reins? Yes. Latex? Maybe later. Riding crop? Yes. Double-sided implements? Sure, it's important to do things together. Lube? Lots of lube._

"Your drool is splashing around," the black unicorn snickers.

"It's the breakfast. I just loooove meat. Bacon, I mean. Medical sausages are good too though."

"The hay is a medical saus-"

"Taken rectally."

"I may have made a mistake."


	5. Packing: Light Shines

_Things are looking up, I guess._

* * *

To be honest, Royal Guard recruit training feels more and more pointless with every misadventure I have to go through. As far as physical practice is concerned the Griffon Legion desert trips were more than enough to surpass anything Heavy and Rising make us do. As for the weapon training though, where griffons rely on weapons, gadgets, natural strength and size, ponies rely on pure skill in their chosen aspect.

I wonder about my chances as once again Heavy Hoof's blue mane passes my peripheral vision, my world spins, and I end up on my back. When I blink the minor concussion off, the white, blue-maned earthpony is standing above me with hoof outstretched.

"Is there anything wrong? You seem even less focused than usual," Heavy raises an eyebrow when I grab his leg and jump back up.

"Sorry, my mind is just elsewhere."

"Trouble at home?"

We both might have things we dislike about one another - I, for one, still can't forgive him how he betrayed Mistake in Manehattan and he, erm, errrrm. Is there really nothing? - but there's no reason to point those out. Thinking about it, he's a good friend who just suffered a lapse of judgement.

"More like the exact opposite."

"Oh? Oooh!" he looks at Mistake who is doing some light exercises under the supervision of Darky while Rising Thunder is torturing the normal recruits, "Going to the next level?"

"Yeeeep!"

"Well then," Heavy grins sadistically, "I can't let my old sargeant and a good friend get bedded by some loser, right? Best three out of five, Cromach. If you lose I'll put in a good word for Darky and Blazing might just change his mind."

"You wouldn't..."

"Maybe, maybe not. Do you want to find out? Blazing has been after Darky for ages and now, with you in the picture, she finally realizes she has to start trying herself otherwise he'll drift away from her."

I take everything back. Deep down he doesn't like me and right now I hate him. Good motivation though.

"His name is Mistake," I growl, "You could at least use it! Shows how much you respect him and his choices."

Grabbing my practice mace I previously dropped on the ground, a training weapon closest in size and shape to my chosen battleaxe, my talons rip out bits of frozen earth that follow my upswing. Heavy doesn't bother dodging and just rears on his hind legs and spins his staff in the air, one end deflecting my strike and the following end sending me back on the ground.

"I made enough wrong choices in the past, Cromach, and I will do and say what I think is right. Blazing lies about his name because he believes anything he does will end up a failure. I've known him much longer than you and I know he is wrong. That's why I will NEVER use the name Mistake."

Jumping back up, I grab the large mace in both arms, get ready to swing and charge, and throw it at him. Normally, getting rid of my weapon would be suicide but this is a practice and a fight to prove my point. If Heavy doesn't believe I can be by Mistake's side and steer him right I will just make him unable to say anything. Following the flying weapon, I jump straight at where Heavy will dodge.

My charge knocks the wind out of him and when my talons lock around his neck I squeeze.

"One for me... friend," I heave and the titan's hind legs leave the ground. He might be huge even for an earthpony but I am a griffon trained by the Legion in the desert, taller, stronger, unbreakable. Letting him choke a little, I throw him on the icy ground.

Heavy's easy smile fades completely as he coughs and readies his combat stance.

"A suicidal charge? Is that the best you can do?" he taunts.

"Just so you know how far I'm willing to go," I turn my back to him and walk to the weapon I threw, ready to jump away at the sound of any movement. Heavy just stands there, watching me. That's his biggest flaw, the incurable sense of fairness... something I admire and despise at the same time.

With both of us facing one another, Darky finishes Mistake's exercises and leads him to our 'practice'. I wonder whether they're really done or whether she heard us. Batponies, am I right?

Today all of them will know the strength of my convictions. I swing wide with the mace and Heavy gets ready to block it. He avoids the blow at the last second just by pulling his staff back and stabs straight at me. Letting my weapon go again I take the blow, grip the staff, pull towards me. Ponies, not having the gripping ability of griffons, are usually easy to disarm. Aside from unicorns, damn unicorns. The staff slides out of his hooves but it's enough to make him stumble. Gripping his weapon, I stab him in the chest, grab the end of the staff in both arms, swing.

"Two out of five. If you don't think I'm the right one then you sure as hell should start trying, Heavy."

"Okay," he turns to Mistake, "Hey, Blazing! Stop hiding behind a false name and accept who you really are."

That motherplucker! How dare he?

This time I'm not waiting for him to get ready and just rush to him while his weapon is still gone. Heavy's never been a stupid pony though. I, on the other sharp-taloned arm, get overconfident from time to time. Just like now. I fall right into Heavy's trap as he turns back to me, kicking up faster than a staff would go without any wind-up. The followup is no less painful as the earthpony who must have been carved out of rock by gods themselves punches me so hard I think for a moment I've been banished to the moon. So much for being stronger.

"Heavy, I-" Mistake begins.

"Yes?"

"I chose the name because it fit me. It still fits so I'm still using it."

"And it will fit you as long as you believe it. Do you know the magic behind pony names?"

"Never heard about it."

"A pony's name, whether given or chosen, affects their fate. It's very simple and I, for one, believe it to be true."

"Pfff, as if anything I've ever done fit the name Blazing Light."

"You were the torch that showed me the path when everypony hated me for being a colt cuddler. When Darky thought she'd never get out of Valiant's hooves you helped without any regard for yourself and your presence burned away any lingering shadows of his presence. Am I right, Darky?"

"Sort of, yeah," the batpony smiles.

"You destroyed the shadow king, giving Equestria brighter future and, from what I heard, your and Sharp's influence were the biggest things that made queen Chrysalis accept the peace offer. Do you now understand why I think you shouldn't be ashamed?"

"You just picked some of the good stuff out of all the bad things I've done," Mistake mumbles but there is something missing in his voice.

"I picked the ends I could recall at the moment. You fought your way through the darkness and emerged victorious. I am your friend and it's my duty to show you where you went wrong."

"Oh shut up!" I descend from the heights where Heavy's hoof sent me, "Friends support each other even if they disagree. You just think you know better than everypony else which you don't. Ehm, ehm, Manehattan."

"Calm down, Cro," Mistake says, "Friends forgive each other."

"And try to make amends," Heavy finishes his sentence.

Why do I get the feeling the situation turned against me? Am I really wrong?

"You gonna talk or fight, Heavy?" I arm myself again.

"Right, we have a little bet going," Heavy grins again and picks his staff up.

"Woo. Stakes high?" Darky's eyes sparkle.

"Everything's on the line," I growl, "I mustn't lose."

"You will," Heavy says assuredly, "Am I right, Blazing?"

Mistake sighs.

"Yes, in both your assumptions."

NO!

I swing. Heavy blurs. World spins.

"Giving something your all is fine, Cromach. Being reckless isn't. Neither is being thoughtless."

"I've won against you before. I can do it again," I groan, picking myself back up.

"Use Blazing's real name and I'll let you win."

"Not-"

I swing my mace right into his block. His legs budge a little.

"-until-"

Another blow. Another patient block.

"-he-"

The practice staff cracks.

"-tells-"

The staff breaks but Heavy dodges by leaning back.

"-me-"

My weapon hits the ground so hard it breaks as well.

"-himself!"

Heavy's hoof reaches my face at the speed of a comet. I can't lose here. I can't-

"OW!" Heavy's strike stops, blocked by a small shield made of pieces of black crystal.

"Enough, guys. This is just a practice," says Mistake and turns to Darky, "Did I nail it?"

"Yep," Darky chuckles, "Pretty accurate for a blind pony."

"Heavy," Mistake says and Darky turns his head in the correct direction, "I'm not sure about the magic of names or whatever but you are the smart one, not me. You're right about me just running away though. Cro, if you don't mind, can you call me Blazing? If it bothers you I won't mind going by Mistake just for you."

I don't know whether to feel betrayed or... vindicated.

"Buddy, I don't care how I call you. You're still the unicorn I want to protect and see happy."

"Ya're not the only one," Darky steps in.

"You've had enough chances already," I hiss back at her.

"Enough!" Mistake says firmly, "I need all of you. It took me long enough to realize it but you got on this train wreck with me willingly. Well, let's leave that topic because I'm here to ask something more pleasant. Heavy, do you want to go with us on a vacation? Princess Luna is paying."

"Sorry, Blazing, I have a ton of work here. A new batch of recruits will be arriving after Heart's Warming and since we have almost no trainers it'll be up to me and Rising to get the Royal Guard back up and running. Also, I think the two lovestruck morons wouldn't take kindly to me being a distraction."

Successfully embarrassing all three of us, Heavy picks the broken practice weapons up and puts them back into the equipment box. Hauling the box away, he resumes assisting Rising Thunder with the recruit training.

"Blazing," I stick my tongue out, "Doesn't roll out of the beak too well."

"That's why I call him Blaze," Darky winks at me.

This might be a terrible idea.

"Ehhh, I have to ask for a favor, Darky."

"Blaze has already told me. Ya want me to take him in for tonight, right?"

"Yeah. Did-did he tell you why?"

"No, he was uncharacteristically secretive."

We look at each other. We burst out laughing.

"Yes, yes, I get it," Mist- Blaze scowls but I know he's not mad.

Now, why would he agree out of the blue? Why does it suddenly bother me?

Damn Heavy Hoof, too smart for his own good. Well, Heart's Warming is coming, as he said, and I might have a much better chance to make our night memorable. I'm much less sure about my decision now.

Of course it has to be still gnawing him from the inside.

[i]"I wanted to do something for you but I didn't have anything."[/i]

That's what he said and I refused then. Now, though, he feels firmer and more sure of himself than ever before. If I let it grow a little then things can only get better in the long run.

I hope I'm not making a mistake.

"Ehm, Blaze?" I mumble the unfamiliar name, "About our... arrangement. Can we leave it for later?"

"Eh? Sure, but why? I thought you were crazy about it."

"Meh, maybe Heavy finally managed to beat some sense into my head."

"So, should I stay tonight at Chokey's place or what?"

"Yes, please. I think she deserves to enjoy you a little. Can't be too greedy, can I?" I smile at him.

"MAKEOVERS!" Darky yells.

"You're kidding me," Blaze's jaw drops.

"Of course I am," she hits him softly with a hoof, "I'm not thirteen. We'll be banging, right?"

How can she say it so easily when I have to gather courage and think about every step?

"Stop teasing, Chokey. I doubt I was much good in bed before and when I can't even see what I'm doing it's not going to get better."

Oh right, I forgot they lived together for a while.

"Well, yeah," Darky admits, "I just love seeing Cromach steam so hard he melts the snow around him. I'm pretty sure I get what your 'arrangement' was. Ya're saving it for Heart's Warming evening, aren't ya?"

"Maybe," I squeak weakly.

"Good luck. I'll just have to settle for somepony I meet at the end of the year party. I'll be thinking of both of ya during the night though. With any luck, twice."

I think we might be very similar. Perhaps that's why both of us are in this situation.

"Darky, I solemnly promise that the next time it'll be the three of us in one bed and we'll do anything-"

I catch Blaze shaking his head violently and making cutthroat gestures with his hoof.

"-some things you want us to do. It's just that I want the first time together to be special."

"First time?" Darky gasps, "I thought you- wow, I had no idea."

"Well, we didn't have much time to do anything with all that was happening."

"Guys, sorry. I just thought you wanted to spend the festival together. I thought you've already- nevermind. I promise not to bother you and I'll sort all the packing out myself. I'll buy all the necessary stuff, I'm sure I know both of your sizes well enough. We'll be leaving two days after Heart's Warming so just have fun and leave everything to me."

"Thanks, Darky."

"No biggie. We'll have two weeks on the beach to 'play' to our heart's content."

She might be my rival but all that means is that we have a common goal. I should just let things go for now, enjoy myself, and relax. Next step, find a good love hotel and reserve a spot. After that - the Griffon Empire.

Let the good times begin!


	6. White: Beep Boop

Canterlot, the city of white spires, chivalry, class, and politics. The seat of all power in Equestria wrapped in white marble, gold inlay decorating every surface, and with two gems more radiant than anything hiding in the depths of the land - the alicorn princesses. While the ponies inhabiting this glorious city might vary in having been born with wings, light bones, and the ability to control weather or having a horn on their head reflecting their skill in manipulating the fabric of the universe by force of will or even not having been blessed with either of those but instead with stamina and strength the previous two kinds have to admire despite their endowments, the princesses combine the peak traits of all those into the beauty of Night and Day ponified.

In the plain, secure interrogation room of Canterlot castle there's more than the two though. The newly appointed princess Twilight Sparkle is currently looking at the strange pony-like construction lying on the metal table in the middle of the room, lamps and lights casting their rays straight at it.

 _LOADING BASE DATABASE VALUES... success_

"I must admit it looks creepy. Magistrate Twilight's husks freak me out every time she visits. Thankfully, she's considerate enough to come with just one these days. Mirror world technology is fairly strange in places. Hey, it's looking at me!"

 _Species: Alicorn / F_

 _Color: White_

 _Cutie Mark: img_01_sun_

 _Standing: Neutral_

 _Threat Level: High_

 _Name: Celestia_

 _Status: Royalty_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(average) / Thaumic(minor) / Heat(high)_

 _Notes: Loves cake; Hates exercise;_

"You activated it?" the purple alicorn princess grinds her teeth, "I left a card here that distinctly said 'NO TOUCHING'."

 _Species: Alicorn / F_

 _ERROR 138: Database entry inconsistent with sensory input_

 _CORRECTING... success_

 _Species: Ascended Unicorn_

 _Color: Lavender_

 _Cutie Mark: img_04_stars_

 _Standing: Friendly_

 _Threat Level: Low_

 _Name: Twilight Sparkle_

 _Status: Creator_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(insignificant) / Thaumic(minor)_

 _Notes: Smartest princess; Scared of outside;_

"I just poked it to see what it was made from," the third alicorn raises her hooves defensively at the growling of princess Twilight, "I didn't push any button or whatnot."

 _Species: Alicorn / F_

 _Color: Dark blue_

 _Cutie Mark: img_02_moon_

 _Standing: Unfriendly_

 _Threat Level: Unknown_

 _Name: Luna_

 _Status: Royalty_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(low) / Thaumic(extreme)_

 _Notes: Shut-in; Single foreveeeer;_

 _ERROR 3: Database entry grammar error_

 _CORRECTING... success_

 _Notes: Shut-in; Single forever;_

"There is NO button!" Twilight facehoofs, "I set it up to start at the touch of a horn. It's not supposed to turn off, ever, unless destroyed. Why were you poking it with your horn, Luna?"

 _ADJUSTING SENSORS_

 _ROTATING FIELD OF VIEW x:+30 y:+19_

 _FOCUS_

"Eeek! It looked at me," princess Celestia jumps, staring into the two black ovals imitating pony eyes in which blue segmented circles appeared and moved while aiming her, "Why is it looking at me? I didn't do anything."

"What would you do when you woke up for the first time with head full of data but no connections between most of it? It's just looking around and measuring everything," Twilight rolls her eyes at the surprising incompetence of her mentor with technology, "There's no need to be worried, it's not dangerous. Not at the moment at least."

 _ROTATING FIELD OF VIEW x:-80 y:-5_

 _FOCUS_

"I believed you, Twilight," princess Luna steps away from the thing lying on the steel table, "right until the point you said that and it looked at me. What is it anyway?"

 _FOCUS entity:creator_

"That might be a bit difficult to explain," Twilight sratches her head, "When I first saw mirror world husks I returned to a little project of mine I was working on some time ago. I had all the data ready but there was no real technology able to hold it and work through it with any sort of necessary speed, not until mirror Twilight agreed to share some of the husk blueprints with me. With the mirror world alloy smelting and steel layering methods I found a blacksmith here able to make the chassis and added some improvements myself."

Twilight ends with a triumphant smile of somepony succeeding in something nopony has ever done before.

"Tell me, Twilight," princess Celestia looks at her student disapprovingly, "What prisoner did you sacrifice without my permission to make this... thing?"

"No no no no, princess!" Twilight looks as if Celestia slapped her, "This is a PI, not a real husk mirror Twilight uses. It was much more expensive and complicated to make but I didn't have to sacrifice some poor soul."

"PI?" princess Luna finally breaks the stare cast on the thing on the table. No matter how much it looks like a pony, strange, metallic pony, she can't summon any sort of affection she carries even for the darkest of her subjects.

"Ponificial Intelligence," Twilight smiles widely.

"Artificial would have sufficed," princess Celestia's eyes go wide, "and you succeeded?"

Twilight blushes.

"I wanted to mark it as a pony achievement, thus ponificial, and while I would love to say I succeeded I honestly have no clue, princess. The theory is there and the vessel seems to be working, at least partially, but it's too early to say whether it can actually learn and evolve like it should or to at least guess how far it can go. Plus, it's my favourite number and food at the same time."

A short knock on the door of the room is followed by a pony stepping inside.

 _Species: Thestral / F_

 _Primary Color: Black_

 _Secondary Color: Red_

 _ERROR 341: Physical anomaly detected_

 _ADD ENTRY left wing; closestApproximateType phoenix_

 _ADD ENTRY right wing; closestApproximateType N/A_

 _ADD APPROXIMATION thaumic_

 _CORRECTING... success_

 _Cutie Mark: img_635_darkDot_

 _Standing: Neutral_

 _Threat Level: Below average_

 _Name: N/A_

 _Status: Nightguard_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(medium) / Thaumic(minor)_

 _Notes: N/A_

 _ADD ENTRY: batpony; magical influence changed physical form;_

"Sorry to interrupt, princess, but I'm leaving for two weeks so here is a list of those fit to temporarily take my place," she pulls out a scroll and gives it to Luna.

"Enjoy yourself, you deserve it."

"Well, it would be easier if there were just the two of us but Crom is going as well to be our guide in the Griffon Empire. If I don't work my charms as hard as I can I might end up with a clopbot like you here. See you after my vacation," the batpony salutes and leaves.

The two princesses look at Twilight who starts whistling innocently.

 _SEARCH clopbot_

"Clopbot?" Celestia asks and covers her mouth.

"That's not what it is!" Twilight objects.

"It certainly doesn't look like one," Luna supports Twilight.

Under Celestia's withering gaze both of them realize they've admitted a familiarity with something they probably shouldn't have.

 _INPUT Approach; subject Celestia_

 _ACTION Bow_

"At least it's polite," mumbles Celestia while examining the sleek form in front of her, moving steel hooves and surprisingly flexible limbs with her magic before turning back to Twilight, "First of all - congratulations on making this, well, him... most certainly him."

 _INPUT Examination; target pleasureAppendage_

 _ACTION Free line of sight_

All three princesses focus on the robopony sitting on his rump and spreading his hind legs, or more likely on what's between those legs.

"Twilight?" Celestia scrunches her muzzle.

"Well, I, you know... Heart's Warming is coming and the new library is so big and empty."

"Just find a stallion like everypony else, not an experiment! Not to mention that after this thing is done with you you'll also feel big and empty."

"Sister!" Luna objects indignantly while Twilight coughs, face on fire.

"That goes for you as well. Don't think I didn't see you smack your lips when I pulled it- him up," Celestia shifts her searing gaze at her, "Besides, I have seen battering rams smaller than that."

 _INPUT Discomfort; subject Celestia_

 _ACTION Retract; target pleasureAppendage_

"See," Luna scowls at Celestia, "now you've gone and scared him."

"What? It's not like he can feel anything."

"Actually," Twilight stomps the floor lightly, "a PI should learn like anypony else. It's not a machine that just reacts to the input vie predetermined patterns so everything you say or do will affect him in some way. I can't say how deep his reactions can go into the feeling territory but... hmmm, one second."

"Does he accept orders?" Luna asks.

"From us, yes. From anypony else, I doubt it since the social structure can't have developed yet," Twilight looks directly at her creation. His basic shape is a pony, smaller than an average unicorn stallion. The body consists of grey, metal plating with strange twisted cables underneath sometimes peeking out where knees would be and where pony body bends in a way metal itself wouldn't. With the hardness of the plating there is no need for large size so the slim mare-like frame suits the image of a panther prowling in tall grass the machine evokes. The sharp teeth and hooves with retractable talons prove Twilight's creation is more than just a companion for lonely ponies.

"Hmmm," Celestia leans closer-

 _INPUT Examination; target primaryMagicalFocus_

 _ACTION None_

-and touches the steel horn on the machine's head, "I thought husks had a single piece of crystal in the forehead."

"Those are very vulnerable. I made a replica of a horn, etched a spiral on it and filled it with the ground-up crystal mirror world engineers use, Cadance sent me some supplies. The downside was that I had to include the magic dampening capability in the cables serving as muscles, making them take forever to craft."

"Magic dampening?"

"Yes, I... persuaded Mistake to assist me in some experiments."

"How?" Luna asks sternly, "I don't wish to put the young stallion through more than he's gone through already."

"Ehm, I said the crown would pay for a vacation for two ponies and a griffon in full. Plus, the ocular sensory research I had to do in order to make this guy work might serve as a way to restore his sight. He agreed, well, his lady did and I managed to replicate the way his ability works... to a certain extent."

"Twilight, I know you haven't faced Mistake but I have and I feel no desire for a second being with that ability to roam around."

"It's not like that. This guy can only absorb small amount of magic going his way and he can't use it in any way yet. I haven't even managed to make telekinesis work. The magic resistance is just there so a fireball doesn't inflict fatal damage immediately."

"Well," Celestia taps her hoof on the creation's head, recieving no reaction whatsoever, "What is it good for then, aside from the obvious Heart's Warming action you so heartily deny?"

Twilight thinks about the answer for quite a while.

"I... I don't know," she shrugs, "I just tried to create a working PI and a vessel that could host it effectively. I had to make the database and processing happen throughout the entire body-"

"So if he stubs his hoof he'll forget how to count?" Celestia chuckles.

"NO," Twilight waves her hooves furiously, "Not this one. This body has redundant systems and self-replicating-"

"This one?"

"The previous body had a little accident. Spike dropped a book on his head and the machine forgot how to breathe and died."

"A machine needing to breathe?"

"Yes, see the cables under the steel plating? Those are the really interesting stuff. They are tough, work like muscles which means he doesn't need any motors, transfer information and work as a brain at the same time. They also can grow and diminish depending on their use."

"Great," Celestia snorts, "A robot that can get fat."

"If I wanted a machine I could have built it. I don't know what he can do and what he can grow into, that's where the fun is."

"Fine. Will he just sit there or will he do something?"

"I," Twilight starts and stops, having no clue how to answer, "don't know."

 _INPUT Hoof waving; subject creator_

 _ACTION Keep in sight_

"Can you speak?" asks Luna.

"Engage vocal output," Twilight orders.

"Partial-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, MY EARS!"

 _ADJUST VOLUME -60%_

"Partial or full?" says a raspy voice.

"Partial," answers Twilight and looks at Luna, "That's just speaking. Full vocalizes even the commands going on inside."

"What's your name?" Luna asks the sitting robopony.

Nothing happens.

"Eeerm," the clockwork in Twilight's head goes into overdrive, "I think... I think he doesn't have any sense of self, maybe? He's not a machine so to give him an input directly you would have to tap into his head, well, mind. At least any input outside of a built-in command."

"Into a leg, you say?" Celestia chuckles, puts her hoof under the robot's chin, forcing him to look at her, and taps on his head, "You are you. Whatever is occupying this meshwork of steel and half-alive cables is you. When somepony talks while looking at you they are talking to you, understood?"

 _INPUT Vocal_

 _ACTION N/A_

 _PROCESSING..._

 _ACTION Emergent process_

"Yes," I answer.


	7. Black: Too Easy

Canterlot Castle, still under minor repairs from damage caused by king Sombra from the mirror world, hosts the most dangerous prisoners of Equestria. Contrary to popular belief, dangerous does not mean brutal or senseless killing machines who usually aren't smart enough to plan an escape or any sensible future. Truly dangerous are those who even after their sentence is over will still have connections, power, influence, and, most importantly, knowledge.

One such prisoner is currently sitting in a fairly comfortable cell on the lowest levels of the castle. He's a handsome, white, tall pegasus with eyes blue as the sky on a summer day and a flowing, golden mane envied by many. That comment was very important because it's freaking middle of winter so just saying my eyes are as blue as the sky would be nonsense... well, I'm rambling. I haven't talked to anypony else in almost a month aside from a little adventure the crown offered me to shorten my sentence.

Why am I here?

I used to be a mercenary, nopony special, and I've spent almost fifteen years travelling the world. A young colt starting as a caravan guard working for food changed into a mercenary escorting clients and cracking heads when necessary. The life of drinking, paying whorses, telling stories to mares willing to trade a bit of affection for a catching tale of exploits in the Griffon Empire, and of course impaling a threatening bandit here and there ended with an excellent offer made by a stranger in this very city. The first order was to find and gather six very important figures for their own protection, some fillies called the Elements of Harmony. I succeeded because I'm good at what I do, no real reason to lie, but then the second half of the reward came up and I was supposed to kill them. I'm not a murderer so I declined and got ready to leave Equestria because as it turned out my employer was somepony very important and powerful.

Who?

The lunar princess herself which is the main reason I'm sitting here right now. Officially I'm serving my sentence for a foalnapping but the real reason is so I don't go spreading the word anywhere, not that I really care. The real killer about this entire thing is that Luna had the audacity to personally ask me to help some of her subordinates, one of them responsible for me getting caught in the first place, by guiding them around the Griffon Empire. We succeeded in getting our target back from the Empire to Equestria which means I now have only half a year left in this hole. Not that I'm too keen to wait it out but no real opportunity to get out has presented itself yet.

Now I'm almost thirty and I'm pretty sure I don't have much time left. It's not a big deal, lances for hire rarely live over forty if they continue their path and I'm not a stallion who can sit in one place and farm turnips all day. That's exactly why even though the cell that's my current home is much better than some taverns I've seen I would rather like to get out.

What to do after that though?

Return home to the little settlement near Stalliongrad, one I left when I wasn't even of age? Yeah, right. I should at least visit there and give my folks a biiig hug and reminisce about the days I used to chop wood in the morning frost. My mother would bake a huge rhubarb cake, sprinkle it with vodka because I'm a real stallion now, and we'd just happily sit there, staring at the fireplace. What could be better than that?

Selling my hooves to a glue manufacturer for one.

However, when one has to sit in one place for a long time, silence interrupted only by doing wingups until bones creak, one has to cling to any semi-entertaining thought that passes through these stone walls. The think keeping me sane is that when I get out there's a large part of my payment still hidden and waiting for me, that and one very interesting thing.

I grin to myself. Selling the second thing to somepony with power and resources, possibly the griffon Emperor himself, should give me enough bits to roll in for the rest of my life. That, of course, is still half a year away unless something interesting happens.

And it does. Much like all things that change the status quo it begins with a knock on the door.

"Just a moment, I'm in the shower!" I yell, lying on the wooden bench serving as a bed.

 _Who could be stupid enough to knock at a prisoner's door?_

The door clicks and a brown earthpony mare in ill-fitting golden armor comes in, carrying a mop. She seems too young to be a guard though.

 _Still more interesting than the moss growing on the walls._

"Let me guess, a recruit who got caught by her commanding officer and has to scrub the prisoner cells."

"B-be quiet, prisoner!" she stutters out.

"Fine with me. I'll just keep lying here and watching your plot."

"W-what? You can't do that!"

 _I can, I will, and in the future I will have done._

"Lady, I haven't seen a mare who didn't want to kill me for a month. I will look wherever I damn well please in this cell. Besides, earthpony rumps are always a delight."

"Perv!"

"Nope, I just have a realistic approach. I've seen Saddle Arabian concubines, griffon exotic dancers, and even the odd minotaur barbarian... amazons I think they call them and nothing beats earthpony plot. So get on with the mopping and make my day!"

As I said - a pony sitting here has to stick to any amusement he can find and the young mare trying to clean the floor while pointing her butt away from me at all times so hard she almost scrapes the walls counts as fun around these parts.

"How does an earthpony get into the Royal Guard anyway? Must be tough not having horn or wings," I ask, honestly wondering about it, "With all the unicorns and pegasi around what role does an earthpony play? Aside from the current one of course."

She growls to herself and scrubs the floor harder.

"Why bother with becoming a guard anyway? I can honestly say you're too good-looking for that, no perversion intended for once."

 _Average at most but the way she blushes at any compliment does add few points._

"I, ehm, want to help ponies, that's all," she finally reacts.

"You can get me out of here, that would help," I chuckle to myself and she joins in.

"You don't seem so bad. Why are you here anyway?" she stops mopping and looks at me with her large, brown eyes.

 _Brown coat, brown mane, brown eyes, all different shades of brown but still fitting together. She looks like a walking chocolate fountain._

"Meh. Did a dirty job for the crown, got sent here so I didn't blab about it."

"That's awful!" she gasps.

My snorting at her wide look turns into a short, cynical laugh.

"Ponies in power always need ones who will do the necessary things and let them keep their clean image."

"You- you killed somepony?"

"Nah, just protected a group of citizens and dealt with the danger threatening them."

See? I'm not a liar... as such. Some details are better left out for the fillies.

"That doesn't sound right. Why would they send you here for that?"

"I didn't tell you who I was protecting them from and I won't. I have only a short time left here and then the princesses won't ever hear from me again. You could let me wander around the castle and I would just stretch my legs and return here by myself."

"He he. I'm going to be cleaning the cells for next two weeks. What would you say if I took you outside for a bit? You'd still have to be shackled and on a leash but it would be something, right?"

"Really? You DO realize that just by sitting here I'm supposed to be the scum of Equestria, right?" I try to sound as innocent as possible. I definitely wasn't expecting it to be that easy. She must be really young and inexperienced.

 _Stupid. Also, that giggle is infectious._

"Hah! I'm a Royal Guard, the elite of Equestria," she twirls the mop in her hooves as a spear and salutes, "What could a shackled prisoner do?"

"Compliment you on how good your rump looks in contrast with the golden armor."

She drops the mop and blushes while hiding her face.

 _One guard knocked out without moving a hoof._

"You-you really think I'm pretty?"

"Do I look like a liar?" I run a hoof through my golden mane and smile in so overly seductive fashion even she must realize I'm kidding, "You don't have to answer that. Yeah, you do look good if you're not dropping things all over the place or standing with one leg in a bucket."

"AAH!" she waves her leg and spills the dirty water everywhere, mostly on herself.

 _Miss wet coat, just for me._

"Oh dear, let me help," I grab the mop under my wing and push her away with the other. I was lucky to be born with large wings and my life of flying around in heavy armor gave me strength a normal-living pegasus can't hope for.

"Wow, you're good!" she sits there, wringing water out of her coat.

It would be so easy to knock her out with the long piece of wood, make use of her oversized armor, and get out of the cell. No real point though.

"My weapon is a lance so a long stick isn't too far off. I'm also not too concerned about you staring at my behind," I turn around and grin.

She looks as if she's having a heart attack at me catching her.

"So shiny," she mumbles.

 _She's dumb as a brick. Heh, horny teenagers... too easy._

"I take care of my coat, little lady," I give her the mop and bucket, "Next time I can give you a lesson on how to take care of a long stick."

Her eyes bulge and she shoots out of the cell, stumbling and mumbling.

Must be pretty hard being an earthpony in Canterlot, With snobby nobles everywhere, laughing at her, the only position for her in the castle would be under one. Equality in Equestria my ass.

Scowling to myself at the knowledge of how most unicorns treat other races, I walk to the still open door to my cell and close it. A short knock comes soon after.

"You again? Don't you have other outcasts of society to take care of?" I snicker.

"Erm," she peeks through the door, "I'll try to persuade somepony to allow you to go out from time to time with an escort."

"That... that would be really nice," I spread my wings, bones cracking. Now there's something to be proud of. Well, if I could be proud of something I was born with instead of achieving it, "Miss?"

"Dawn!" she sqeuaks.

I walk over to her, push the door open, and raise my hoof.

"Icy Gaze," I bow a little.

"Eeeeeh," she looks at my face while pumping my hoof with both her front legs.

"Yeah, it's the eyes."

"So blue..." she drifts off to her little dream world again.

I slam the door shut to look like a model prisoner and lie back down on the 'bed'.

 _Now go and amuse me, little filly. Perhaps both of us might get what we want out of this._

Who said escapes had to be messy or bloody? In due time the filly will do whatever I want her to with just a word here or a brush there. Thank Celestia, heh, no real guard was on duty today.

Humming, I get to wringing the dirty water out of my now stained coat. Thankfully, shower day is tomorrow. One has to be grateful for what one gets and for me it's a chance to get out or at least amuse myself for a while.


	8. White: I Got A Friend!

_OBSERVATION Database growing too quickly_

 _ACTION Pain_

 _ACTION Sigh_

"What was that sound?" Celestia asks after hearing a short, distorted noise starting in high pitch but quickly going low and stopping.

"What's going on?" Twilight taps on my back.

"Unexplained throbbing. Target - body," I comply with my creator's question.

"Oh, everything's new. Care to share?"

"Twenty-seven new types of materials. Analysis of possible creation methods. Thirteen new 3d models of ponies. Language assimilation-"

"Unsuccessful," Celestia smiles.

"Princess!" objects Twilight.

 _INPUT Disappointment; target Celestia_

 _ACTION Increase processing speed_

 _ERROR 284: Overload_

 _DAMAGE REPORT... 10%_

"Are his ears supposed to be smoking?" Celestia asks, still leading the way through the castle dungeons.

"What do YOU think?" Twilight groans, "I'm beginning to think I've messed something up."

"Are you going to take him back to Ponyville or your laboratory here?"

"I can't! It's impossible for me to just tap into his system and start reprogramming him. I stored the basic processes and data on a chip which is still, yes, in his head but once everything got loaded into his primary processing system - his entire body - it's just going to keep evolving. I can't do much about it."

"So... if he breaks then what?"

"Then a pony died!"

"You're overreacting."

"Just a bit but the point is that treating him like a machine IS going to make him a machine. Treating him like a pony, on the other hoof, might lead to unexpected results. Right now I think he's a very knowledgeable but extremely stupid pony."

"So he knows a lot but he can't use it."

"Exactly. I poured into him as much as I could get from books and oral reports but most of those entries are only partially true, if at all, or they are in a form which takes way too much time to process and go through."

"Hmmm. What do you propose then, Twilight?"

"I can't keep him locked up in the library as an assistant or something, he needs to learn outside. Also, Spike would get jealous and I'm not in the mood to deal with another secret character assassination attempt an octopus after a total lobotomy would solve, poor Owlie. I was sort of hoping you would think of a way to get him in contact with ponies who won't just run away or try to break him."

 _INPUT Noise; target unknown; type metal; type2 falling; type3 ground_

 _ERROR 529: Data type not descriptive enough._

 _ADD NEW DESCRIPTION word association_

 _CORRECTING... success_

 _INPUT Noise; Hollow metal container hitting the stone floor_

"Not again!" curses a desperate voice coming from behind one of the numerous doors on the side of the long hallway.

"That came from one of the cells, let's investigate!" Celestia says calmly.

 _SCANNING_

 _ADD DATABASE ENTRY_

 _Species: Earthpony / F_

 _Primary color: light brown_

 _Secondary color: dark brown_

 _Cutie Mark: img_958_lightRay_

 _Standing: neutral_

 _Threat Level: insignificant_

 _Name: N/A_

 _Status: Royal Guard_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(insignificant)_

 _Notes: hoof-eye coordination lacking;_

"What's going on here?" Celestia frowns, looking at the earthpony mare in armor a size or two bigger than she is, "First, why isn't the door locked while you're cleaning? Second, why did you throw a bucket of water at a prisoner?"

"Ehm, I-"

"Yeeees, Dawn?"

 _REVIEW ENTRY id 123584_

 _ADD NAME Dawn_

"She didn't throw anything at me, princess," the pegasus inside the cell sighs, dripping water all over the floor while trying to wring out as much as possible with his hooves, "She just has trouble coordinating all seven of her legs. Don't worry, I'm used to it now."

 _SCANNING_

 _ADD DATABASE ENTRY_

 _Species: Pegasus / M_

 _Primary color: white_

 _Secondary color: gold_

 _Cutie Mark: img_959_rook_

 _Standing: unfriendly_

 _Threat Level: below average_

 _Name: N/A_

 _Status: prisoner_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(above average)_

 _Notes: wings of above average size;_

Celestia's eyes go wide and a sadistic smile unparalelled by even the most evil dictators Equestria has ever seen slowly grows on her face.

"Twilight, I think I've found our caretaker."

"What? Wait, what?" both Twilight and Dawn stare at the princess, each one shaking for a different reason.

"You wanted our friend here to learn about ponies so why doesn't he start at the bottom and work his way up?"

"I," Twilight bites her lip, humming, "don't see why not. Dawn?"

"Yes?" the earthpony squeaks and trips over a mop while backing away, planting her rump on the floor.

"Are you willing to take care of our friend here?"

 _INPUT Attention; target Twilight; subtype curious_

 _ERROR 529: Data type not descriptive enough._

 _INPUT Twilight looking at me_

 _ACTION Tilt head_

"W-what is it-he? I mean what do you want me to do?"

 _INPUT Dawn nervous_

 _ACTION Boop nose_

"EEK! It's cold!"

"Hey, at least the bucket of bolts likes you," the prisoner snickers.

 _INPUT prisoner examination_

 _ACTION Boop nose_

 _ERROR 39: Action not permitted by target_

"Don't bother," the prisoner comments, swatting my hoof away with his wing, and turns to Celestia, "Did you make a husk? That's a new low, princess, one even lower than what your sister-"

"Foalnapping is still a crime, Icy Gaze," Celestia explains calmly, "No matter the circumstances. Speaking of circumstances, how do you know about husks? I don't remember you reporting anything connected to them after your parole mission ended."

"You sent me into the Griffon Empire on a freaking mirror world combat warship and you graciously added a group of technicians and soldiers. Of course I was curious after seeing the difference between our cargo airships and the Lightbtringer."

"Mirror world?" asks Dawn, carefully scanning the floor for anything that might make her slip or trip.

"You remember the guys who invaded Crystal Empire and later took Canterlot and-"

"Icy," Celestia hisses, "That's not supposed to be public knowledge."

"Oh please," Icy Gaze rolls his eyes, "Are you going to tell her it's a state secret or whatever nonsense you blinded the public with?"

Trying the patience of the solar princess can't be healthy but the pegasus doesn't seem to care whatsoever. Too much knowledge is a very dangerous thing.

"All right," Celestia rubs her temples, "But just because you are as close to the Royal Guard as one can be without actually being one, Dawn, and because the annoying prisoner there would tell you anyway just to spite me for his fate. Our world is connected to a world that is geographically same as ours but with some differences in politics and technology. They have sacrificed their connection with nature for heavy advances and innovations in other fields. They are currently our tentative allies, that's all you need to know. The mechanical friend here is Twilight's invention based on their technology and she wants him to walk around and... see things for himself."

"Oh, okay," Dawn scratches her head, "What am I supposed to do then?"

 _INPUT Dawn circling around me_

 _ACTION None_

 _ERROR unmarked/new: Inactivity causes ponies to be uncomfortable_

 _ACTION Vocalize_

"Assistance required?" I ask.

"AAH! It can talk?"

"He," Twilight pauses, "can do a lot of things and we'd like you to let him follow you during your duties. Starting now, actually. Bye!"

At a meteoric speed, Twilight starts walking away, followed by Celestia.

"High one!" Twilight raises her hoof at the end of the corridor and Celestia hits it with hers.

They realize they're still within earshot and, mainly, sight of us.

"Ehm, go about your duties!" Celestia opens the door leading out of the dungeons and slams it when both Twilight and her leave.

"Do you want to go outside this evening?" Dawn asks Icy, "I asked one of the guards where the shackles were and nopony uses those anyway."

"Sure, I'd love to stretch my wings."

"No flying. Promise me!"

"No problem. It's just annoying having these flyswatters," Icy ruffles his feathers, "in a cell where they reach from one wall to the other."

"So, yeah," Dawn grabs the mop and bucket, "tonight. I'll have to think of something to do with him."

 _INPUT Icy Gaze inspecting me_

 _ACTION Permit_

"You know what?" Icy rubs his chin, "if you can get me some paper and pencils I could get him off your hooves for a day or two."

"You want to draw a picture of him?"

"Yes," Icy sighs, "a picture..."

 _INPUT Vocal input inconsistent with intent and/or body language_

 _ERROR 986: Wrong estimate_

 _CORRECTING... failed_

 _SEARCH DATABASE: keywords partial, truth, deception_

 _INPUT Icy Gaze is lying_

 _ESTIMATE REASON... failed_

 _ACTION None_

 _OBSERVATION Not enough information_

 _ACTION Pain_

 _INPUT Icy Gaze knocking on chassis_

 _ACTION Focus_

"Anypony in there?" Icy asks, knocking on my head.

"No pony present, only connecting cables and processing-"

"Thought so," Icy cuts me off, "Dumber than a husk, definitely."

 _SEARCH husk_

 _ERROR 404: Entry not found_

 _ACTION acquire information_

"What is a husk?" I ask.

"Yeah, and why would it make you doubt princess Celestia?" Dawn adds.

"Aside from the fact that whenever anything went wrong in the past she dropped the responsibility on Twilight and apparently she's learning to do that as well?" Icy chuckles coldly, "You don't have to answer that. Well, husks... I've never seen one with my own eyes but I was told they look similar to the walking typewriter here and are made by ripping a death row prisoner into pieces for pony amusement in an arena somewhere until only their heart remains-"

"That's disgusting!" Dawn gags.

"No idea, griffons say it tastes like chicken. Whatever, when there's only heart and brain left to salvage they put those into a metal construct and let the heart provide energy while the brain gets a special crystal rammed into it which allows others to control it. Apparently, mirror world isn't as peaceful place as ours, not that ours is a paragon in that respect if you know where to look."

"And he's... that?"

 _INPUT Dawn; curious examination_

 _INPUT Icy Gaze; chest knocking and horn prodding_

 _ACTION Vocalize_

 _IMPROVEMENT limit alphabet use for easier character check... success_

 _ACTION vocalize_

"No damage done. Examination permitted."

"I don't think so," Icy rubs his temples and knocks on my forehead again, "Hey, bucket, what are you?"

 _LOAD DATABASE ENTRY_

 _Species: construct / M_

 _Primary color: grey_

 _Secondary color: N/A (no mane/tail fur present)_

 _Cutie Mark: N/A_

 _Standing: excellent_

 _Threat Level: N/A_

 _COMPARE AVERAGE PONY STATISTICS... success_

 _Threat Level: above average_

 _Name: N/A_

 _Status: PI_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _SAVING MEASUREMENTS... success_

 _Damage Type: Physical(high)_

 _Notes: add magical capabilities (Twilight); drop off in Canterlot (Twilight); add prototype wings when they stop exploding (Twilight); self_

"Ponyficial Intelligence. Made by Twilight Sparkle. Observing."

"I meant what are you good for? Designation, role, reason for existence."

 _SEARCH role_

 _WIDE SEARCH... no result_

"Entry not found. Attributes - high mobility, stamina, damage resistance, growing computing power."

"No prisoner sacrificed on a blood altar to dark gods?"

"No."

"Ehm," Dawn sqeaks, "I-I have to clean the other cells. Do you mind coming with me, mister... machine?"

 _REVIEW ENTRY id 123584_

 _SET STANDING friendly_

 _REVIEW ENTRY id 123585_

 _SET STANDING neutral_

 _INPUT Dawn; request_

 _ACTION vocalize_

"Following."

"Nice, now you have something to stop that mop from tripping you all the time," Icy snickers at Dawn who blushes, "See you when you're done, little filly."

"Remember - no flying!"

"And no knocking out a clueless guard," Icy whistles innocently, "Got it."

Dawn closes and locks the cell door.

"Isn't he dreamy?" she asks the empty air...

...or me?

 _COMPARE Dawn; looking at me... failure_

 _ACTION vocalize_

 _EXTRAPOLATE answer_

 _SEARCH dream_

"Query target? Looked fully awake."

"What? Nevermind, I was just talking to myself-"

 _ACTION sigh_

"-heh, cute noise. Can you play some music as well?"

"Subroutine not found."

"Too bad. Oh well, grab the bucket and let's finish the rest of the cells off."

* * *

 _OBSERVATION Database growing too quickly_

 _ACTION pain_

 _DAMAGE REPORT... 26%_

 _ENERGY BALANCE... -68%_

 _ACTION slow processing down_

"Phew! We're done," Dawn wipes the sweat from her forehead, "How was your first day at work?"

One door remains, a large double door at the end of the long and winding hallway.

"Bucket balancing efficiency up by 13 percent. Weapon type - polearm - proficiency up by 3 percent. Successful prediction of your fall up by 73 percent."

"Oh, well, ehm, at least somepony had a good afternoon," Dawn rubs her bruised legs, "I don't know why but things just keep getting in my way."

 _SCANNING..._

 _ANALYSIS Dawn; motion anomaly_

 _RESULTS lack of focus; poor peripheral vision; ocular aid recommended_

"Concentration exercise. Glasses."

"What? Well, I have been thinking about Icy a little too much. I just get all giddy when he's around. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

 _SEARCH CONNECTION giddy, male, female, lack of focus_

"Search results point to affection."

 _INPUT Dawn; face temperature critical_

 _ACTION apply coolant_

"WHY DID YOU POUR THE BUCKET ON ME?" Dawn screams.

 _REVIEW ENTRY id 123584_

 _SET STANDING hostile_

 _ANALYSIS Dawn; motivation_

 _RESULTS minor armor damage;_

 _ACTION apologize; bow_

"Sorry for damaging your armor."

"Armor? Screw armor! I have to finish this, run home now to have a bath, and meet Icy late."

 _ANALYSIS Icy Gaze;_

 _EXTRAPOLATE schedule_

 _SEARCH prison_

"His probable location for this evening will be his cell," I try to be helpful.

"You don't say," Dawn stomps the floor, grumbling to herself, "Stupid machine! Ruining my evening..."

 _NEW OBJECTIVE raise standing with Dawn_

 _SEARCH pony, mare, status, raise_

 _RESULTS gift; favor; compliment; facial expression_

"Apology offering - bucket," I present the item in outstretched hooves, "Your wet mane presents appealing features. Favor request pending."

She blinks and scrunches her nose.

 _ERROR 471: Communication failure_

 _REVIEW SYNTAX_

"I apologize. Wrong assumption. You look pleasing. I offer assistance and a gift bucket."

"Hrrrngh! Say: I'm a stupid paperweight who has just ruined a mare's plans for the evening!"

"I'm a stupid paperweight who has just ruined a mare's plans for the evening."

"Why do I bother?" Dawn sighs to herself, "Just don't do it again, okay?"

 _REVIEW ENTRY id 123584_

 _SET STANDING neutral_

 _OBJECTIVE raise standing with Dawn_

 _REVIEW... requested values not met_

"I offer assistance."

Dawn looks around and leans to me.

"You really mean it?"

"Falsehood subroutine inactive."

"Can you stash the cleaning equipment into the third floor storeroom?"

 _SEARCH Canterlot castle floor plan_

"Fully capable."

"Epic!" yells Dawn, trotting through the hallway already, "Mop the wet floor, put the stuff there, and you're forgiven."

 _SET STANDING Dawn; friendly_

 _ACTION vocalize_

 _EMERGENT ACTION expression change_

"Success!" I smile to myself.


	9. Black: Trustworthy

It's only a week left until Heart's Warming. How do I know? Well, Dawn doesn't shut up about it, I guess she's dissatisfied with her social life. I would lie if I said she's an interesting pony but her babbling about everything helps with the unending boredom at least for a moment every day. What's scary is how much better she looks as a mare with my every day spent here.

Oh well, it shouldn't last long.

"You know? I did time in a griffon prison and this is definitely a huge upgrade," I mumble while watching Dawn mop the floor, enjoying how she's now actually wiggling her hips whenever she's facing away from me.

"What did you do there?"

Her curiosity about me borders on obsession, she would get over me killing a newborn with a smile. Is it possible I'm the first one to compliment her? I mean she's nothing special but that shouldn't be the case.

"Some nomads overwhelmed us while escorting a caravan through one of the southern deserts. We tried to fight but ponies have it pretty difficult against griffons if they are well armed. Guns are the biggest problem unless you have a unicorn experienced with shielding spells in the group. We had but nopony expected an attack of such size. It turned out we were passing through a territory belonging to some warlord who was trying to tighten his hold over the place."

"I thought the Griffon Empire was ruled by a Holy Emperor."

"It is, technically, but the Empire is made of states with their respective governments like Griffonia and Griffonistan. No, not all of them are named after griffons. Some of the states are pretty small and are more city states rather than small kingdoms, similar to the Crystal Empire."

"You've been everywhere, have you?"

"I was born near Stalliongrad so I came back there when Crystal Empire reappeared just to see what it was about. Well, those little griffon dominions are ruled by sheiks and warlords who just take over land by force and that was the case. He wanted to ransom the stallions and male griffons and keep the females as concubines. Unfortunately for us, mercenaries never have anypony who would pay for them, it's a solitary life most of the time in terms of having somepony close to you."

"That's sad."

"Not really. It helps you avoid responsibility and you see a big part of the world if you're lucky."

"What if you're not lucky?"

"You see a big part of the underworld pretty quickly."

Dawn gasps and stops her mopping.

"Aren't you scared? I mean whenever you take a new job."

"Not really. I like the job and I don't plan for the future, no real point. It's better than doing the same thing every day for the rest-DAMN!" I clutch my chest and break into a coughing fit.

Dropping the cleaning utilities, Dawn runs over to me and hits my back few times.

"No! Don't! STOP!" I break out of her attempt at clearing my tubes, "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just a healing wound."

I point at a patch of twisting fur on my chest, the only disfiguring scar on my well-maintained coat.

"What did that?" Dawn puts her hooves on the scar and kneads it a little. Who am I to stop her desperate desire for a physical contact?

"A pissed off mare, actually," I grin.

"Oh!" she scowls at me.

"On a mission, a mission!" I wave my hooves defensively.

"Reeeeally?" she raises an eyebrow.

"Ye, the one that got me stuck here. I wonder, what did Celestia tell the public about the invading force that appeared out of nowhere from the Everfree Forest and captured Canterlot on the way to the Crystal Empire? Aside from what she explained when I pushed her."

"Nothing really. The rumors were that some ancient king rose up and with his servants he tried to take over the world again. His goal was the Crystal Empire and he would have succeeded if it weren't for the valiant effort of prince Shining Armor and the Crystal Guard."

"Heh, right. Yeah, that's as far away from the truth as it can be, at least the second part. I had to find out information during my mission that sort of break the story completely."

"Why would princess Celestia lie to us?"

"If a story ends neatly nopony asks questions. The truth is that king Sombra really was defeated but not by an armed force but a single unicorn who was leading his attack on Canterlot. I didn't manage to find out how but I managed to track him down to a small town called Ponyville where he lived with his female companion."

Dawn shows an unusual sign of intelligence and points at my chest.

"I bet she wasn't too happy about it."

"Yeah. Princess Luna hired me to find them and to protect the Elements of Harmony which was later called a foalnapping just so Luna didn't get flak for it. I thought I was smart but the crazy mare noticed I was tracking her and her unicorn friend and we ended up fighting."

"She beat you?"

"She surprised me and when I didn't want to kill her, just tie her up, she stabbed me with a blade hidden in her horseshoe. She must have caused some internal wound that makes my chest hurt from time to time, making me cough. Something your, ehm, gentle ministrations didn't help."

"Oops, sorry."

"I would ask you for an apology massage but I don't want to get trampled."

"Hey! I'm not THAT bad with my hooves-"

I point to the bucket suddenly hanging on her front leg.

"-HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?" she swings her hoof, nearly misses me, manages to dislodge the bucket which bounces from the wall and hits her head.

"Are you okay?"

"Yaaay, Two Icys!" she wobbles, tongue hanging out.

"Well, you can help if you want to."

"Listening!" she shakes her head and stares at me.

I lean to her ear, making her shiver as I breathe into it.

"Bring me the keys to the cell and a set of Royal Guard armor so I can get out of here," I knock on her head and start laughing.

"I, erm, well, you seem like a nice guy but I can't really do that. Sorry," she blushes and stomps the floor nervously.

 _Wow, she was actually thinking about it._

"Don't worry. I have no reason to cause trouble but there really is something you can do."

"For real?" she almost jumps into the air.

"There's a home remedy you can make out of household ingredients. If you could brew it in the kitchens," I quickly stop myself at the thought of drinking something Dawn prepared, "Or better yet, if you could just get me the ingredients and time near a stove I could make it and you could bring some tea to pour it into."

"What will the potion do?" she asks, ears perked and eyes wide.

"It's just something for the pain, a minor muscle relaxant and analgesic. Field medics use it if they need to transport wounded patients during combat."

 _And a decent paralytic agent if dosed incorrectly._

"Tell me what you need and I'll get it."

 _Heavens help me!_

"Just come tomorrow with some papers and pens and I'll write down the ingredients. Bring your machine friend as well, it might turn out to be a pleasant afternoon."

"Okay!"

"Oh, and wear something silky and see-through," I grin.

 _There she goes again._

Dawn just sits there, panting, locked in her own imagination.

Without any reaction from her I bring the cleaning supplies out of the cell and then push her still sitting on the floor outside as well. It would be less creepy if she didn't slide out surprisingly easily and leave a sticky trail behind her.

 _That filly's got it bad. Well, at least she has something to fantasize about in the shower tonight._

Alone again, I lie down on the bed. After a day spent by doing makeshift physical exercises I want to get as much rest as I can, not that I have a choice.

* * *

"Now don't move until I say so, okay?" I tell the mechanical pony brought to the cell by Dawn.

"Observation - stillness makes ponies uncomfortable."

"True but if you move I won't be able to make a precise... picture of you."

"Reason."

"I'm curious about technology and I haven't had a chance to lay my hooves on something like you before."

"Limited physical contact allowed."

"Thanks, I guess? Now shut up unless it's important. You're distracting me."

I might not be able to do what I want with the machine but it seems willing to give me information I could sell when I get out. For now I need to grip the pencil in my mouth as steady as I can and catch as much detail as possible while drawing. I'd be lying if I wasn't curious about the internal structure of the robot but I doubt I'll be able to produce correct blueprints.

Speaking of blue and prints...

"Say: Draw me like one of your ponies from Prance!"

The raspy voice repeats my sentence emotionlessly while I grin.

I was planning ahead when Celestia sent me to save a griffon traitor from the Empire in order to shorten my sentence and I requested few of my friends to serve as a crew. All of us, of course, acted like complete gentlecolts the entire trip, not causing trouble whatsoever and helping pass time of the mirror world crew by questions and genuine interest.

Oh Celestia, how engineers like to share ideas...

Long story short, with enough gold paid to my friends they spent the entire trip talking and drawing, leaving me with complete blueprints of the Lightbringer, its weapons, and a hoof-operated gun. Two thousand bits it cost me but if I find the right pony it might fetch me ten times more, maybe a hundred times more.

From what I understand it is impossible to trade material goods between our world and the mirror one because they would teleport back if the stable portal closed but services and ideas still carry their value. I like to dabble and there's no way I'm gonna get enough information...

...is there? The robot seems dumb enough to give me the specifics.

"Hey, bucket, what do you know about how you were made?"

It looks at me for a second and then the strange blue circles in its black eyes get smaller when it refocuses.

"When two typewriters love each other very much..." it trails off.

My withering stare doesn't seem to work at all.

"You know what? I apologize, you're way too cynical to be just a machine. Must be Dawn's fault.-"

"HEY!"

I dodge a splash of dirty water.

"-Good job, now get mopping again.-"

"Grrrrrr!"

"-Do you actually know anything though, robot?"

"No direct schematics found. Material details analysis available."

"That might be good enough," I quickly go over what I've drawn already. The general shape is there, the notes about what's metal plating, what looks like a mechanical component, and the strange cables under the plates are there as well although they don't say much. Time to fill in the blanks, "What have you got?"

"Crystalline skeleton - Decentanium crystal dust infused into compressed microsteel. Low flexibility, high durability. Thaumic-"

"Thaumic?"

"-magical component serving as a way to allow biological materials to repair the structure."

"Waaaaait a minute."

"Timer engaged."

"It's just a figure of speech. What does that mean? Doesn't somepony have to, I don't know, come with a screwdriver and replace a broken part?"

"Not necessary. I can digest food and remake the organic nutrients into materials repairing the unorganic structure. Crystal structure inside the steel allows it."

He can't have been made in the mirror world which means the methods and materials are in this world. Those methods are probably known only to few individuals or somepony willing to experiment.

"Okay, continue."

"Armor plating - ashen steel with dragon scale peels to increase heat deflection."

I run my hoof over what seems to be the outer shell of the robot. The grey steel feels similar to a leaf, a slick material with thin veins pronounced enough to be felt but not enough to grate.

"Magic resistance - crystal batteries draining thaumic energy absorbed by cable musculature."

I write frantically as the details about chemical structure of used crystals, their properties and processing methods, flow from the robot. I don't understand much of it but an experienced chemist or an engineer should get hard from the amount of information I'm getting.

"So what makes you tick?"

"Internal clock set to general Equestrian timezone."

"Buck me," I roll my eyes.

"Pleasure appendage engaged."

In utter horror I stare at the black column growing between the robot's hind legs.

 _What twisted, insatiable individual invented this thing?_

The buzzing of the vibrating thing is drowned in the noise of Dawn's cleaning utensils crashing on the floor.

"T-that would kill me," she whispers.

 _She doesn't look TOO horrified about the prospect._

"Target species - ascended unicorn. Change size?"

"No, put it away before she has to mop the floor again," I stretch, stiff from long time of lying on the bed, drawing, and writing, "Out of sheer stupid curiosity - what comes out of it?"

It didn't look like a normal pleasure instrument but like an oversized replica of a pony genitalia so I just had to ask, if only to see Dawn's reaction.

"One percent of nutrient intake is reserved for the creation of healing salve to repair possible tissue damage caused by pleasure appeandage overuse."

 _A clopbot injecting healing potions._

"I think I'm more done than a mayo sandwich left in the desert sun. One day I will die a happy pony knowing I've seen everything the world had to offer."

"Finished! I-" Dawn wipes her forehead.

"Don't move!" I jump up from the bed and put the cleaning supplies outside before she spills everything again, "There, I don't want you to pass out of exhaustion from having to clean this one more time."

"Thanks, I just don't know what's wrong."

"Glasses recommended," says Cloppy, the jackoff all trades, "Low peripheral vision detected."

Dawn growls but ignores him and turns to me.

"Well, see you tomorrow," I ruffle her mane.

"I... well, Heart's Warming is in two days and, you know, I'd like to... ehm."

"No family to go home to? I know the feeling."

"Yeah, the castle will be almost empty so we could borrow a guest room for the evening and... I could help you make the tea thing you wanted."

 _Oh dear._

A little spark of pity grows in me as I watch the mare fail to stutter out her true wish.

 _You might have no wings but I will help you reach the stars for one night._

"Sure thing, Dawn," I wrap my wings around her, "And bring that oversized armor of yours, I know a trick or two with the leather straps."

Smiling like and idiot and almost crying at the same time she runs out of the cell and Cloppy follows.

"Hmmmmm."

* * *

It's difficult to tell time in a cell where there's no sunlight, only the periodic shutting down of a light embedded in the ceiling, but I think today is Heart's Warming. For some reason Dawn wasn't here yesterday which, to be honest, made the day boring as heck but allowed my nerves to get ready for today. I've got a plan. It's risky and, if failed, would result in me staying here possibly forever but I can't just sit here, it's killing me inside.

It has to be late afternoon because even though I usually wake up late I'm done with all exercises, my body hurts as if a minotaur has been kicking me the entire day, and I'm ready to rest.

The door clicks.

"Uh, hi," Dawn, this time without the usual mop and bucket, waves at me, "Come here."

"Good... evening?"

"Yeah, sorry I wasn't here yesterday, I had to do other stuff to have an evening off today. I've done all the other cells already and you, well, you won't need yours tonight, right?"

"So, what's the plan?"

"We can go outside again if you want first. It's a blizzard out there but if we keep to the castle walls we can get some fresh air."

"Thanks. Let's go then," I follow her out of the cell, "Wait. Wouldn't the guards object to me not wearing shackles or anything?"

"There's nopony on duty at the service entrance and everypony is attending the Heart's Warming party in the castle ballroom. It's a mixer for those who don't want to be alone at this time of the year. We should be fine."

"Okay."

Aside from the stairs it's surprisingly short way out of the castle through the guard entrance and we're soon being whipped by the ice crystals outside. Wrapping my wing around Dawn for protection and warmth, I lead her along the castle walls to stretch my legs. It might seem stupid to non-pegasi but even the hail striking my feathers feels much better than the stuffy air of the cell. I walk in silence, happy despite getting colder and wetter with every minute, and Dawn just leans on me and lets me take the lead, enjoying the touch of our bodies.

I don't understand how she could be so desperate. After all, by doing this she's risking getting imprisoned herself or even killed if I turned out to be a secret psycho. Well, I'm not but she's stupid to do this. I mean, she's nothing special but she must be undergoing a guard training as well as cleaning the dungeons every day and her toned side pressing tightly into mine proves that's the case.

"Let's go back, you little idiot," I mumble after we circle the entire castle.

She nods, not even protesting.

"I don't know the layout of the castle so you have to lead the way," I whisper as we reenter the entrance halls of the castle, "You look really tired though. We don't have to do this if you don't feel like it."

 _Well, we do but..._

"No no no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I just," she yawns, "spent the entire last night cleaning the top floors and you can't take a break when a batpony is watching you, am I right?"

She laughs weakly but walks through the halls, determined to get the promised action.

"This is the guest wing," she stops in front of one of many doors and fishes out a key from her saddlebag, "I borrowed this from a maid friend of mine."

She unlocks the door and a large room, or an entire apartment, opens before us. I ignore most of the overly decorated furniture and look straight at the king-size bed and next for the door to some place I could... damn.

"Do you have the things for the tea?" I cough weakly and rub my scar.

"Yeah," she taps her bag, "I got us the guest room mainly because it has a small kitchen in case foreign guests want to cook something not available here."

"You're a miracle."

"Thanks. I'm glad you think so," she sighs.

I put a hoof under her chin and look into the chocolate eyes.

"Dawn, I don't know what possessed you to throw your lot in with a prisoner but let me assure you it's nonsense. Yes, you are clumsy and have an overactive imagination but I can easily see you're inexperienced with colts and if the clopbot was right you might need glasses. Both of those problems have easy fixes. You are a guard in training and you're spending most of your free time doing chores possibly caused by, once again, a simple problem. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she whispers, stunned.

"Well you shouldn't. You are lucky I'm not a murderer or a rapist or some crazy pony set on eating your teeth and making a necklace out of your earwax," I boop her nose and she giggles, "You look good, you might be a little dim, but you... ehm, I don't know where I'm going with that."

"How often does a mare like me get a chance to spend time with somepony like you who is gorgeous, well-travelled, and adventurous?"

"A mare like you should enjoy the service of somepony like that every evening."

A compliment costs nothing and she does have a really nice smile.

"I think I lo-" she blushes when I put a hoof to her mouth.

"No, you don't. I'm just the first one to show you how it should feel," I slap her rump with a wing, "Now go have a shower, you're drenched. I'll make the tea."

"He he," she covers her face, "The herbs are in my bag in a small box."

She trots off to a different room of the guest apartment and I wait for the water to drown out all noise.

Humming, I spend the next minutes boiling and crushing the herbs. In the end I'm left with clear liquid that I pour into a glass separate from the tea, not worried about Dawn touching it. Spiking my tea with small amount, I bring the tray with a pair of cups to the main room. The dull throbbing in my scar caused by the cold outside subsides.

 _Good enough._

With an evil grin, I open the shower door and walk inside just to hear Dawn squeak and throw a towel over my head. I quickly return the favor and while she's blinded I begin toweling her mane and neck.

She quickly stops resisting and just enjoys my attention while I try to dry myself as well as much as possible without breaking physical contact.

"Comfortable?" I rub my muzzle against her neck.

"Mhm."

I nod at her to follow me and offer her some tea. The amount of sugar she puts into it can't be healthy but whatever.

"Aaaaahm!" Dawn yawns again, belly full of warmth, and drops on the bed, mumbling, "I don't care if nothing more happens. Best Heart's Waming ever anyway."

I could just leave things as they are but my stallon's pride doesn't allow it.

"And miss the main course?" I tower over her in the bed, lean down, and gently bite her neck.

"I've never done-"

I silence her with a kiss. She's horrible at it but right now I find it cute rather than annoying.

"I noticed," I tease her a little, rubbing her belly, "Don't worry though, just leave it to me."

Her moaning and joyful tears are her reward for trusting me.

* * *

Sitting on the bed next to Dawn passed out from lack of sleep and her first active night, I persuade my shaking limbs to listen to me and go to the kitchen to get some more tea...

...and the rest of my potion which I slowly pour into Dawn's mouth.

Her breathing slows down even more after a while and I throw the blanket over her.

 _Good night, little filly._

Not worried about making sound anymore, knowing that Dawn won't wake up, I put on her armor which is a little tight on me but if I don't breathe too much I should pass for a Royal Guard. Unfortunately, I am unarmed so I have to settle for a knife from the kitchen. I come across a tiny bag of gold in Dawn's saddlebag while looking for the keys and I leave it where it is.

 _I don't need your gold, I've got plenty of mine._

I pull out a spare blanket from a drawer and slice it into pieces which I wrap around my hooves and stuff into the empty places in my armor so I don't freeze to death later. Unfortunately, my next steps will not lead me out in the safe way so I have to take precautions. Taking one last look at Dawn, I peek out of the room and when I don't hear nor see any guards I walk outside, looking for the closest stairs up.

I can hear the music coming from a certain part of the castle which must be the party still going on. My muffled steps lead me upwards towards the library tower from where I can get to the airship landing pad on the roof. Thankfully, Dawn's keyring had the key guards use for opening castle windows and the library is unguarded tonight. There's one more thing I have to yet retrieve.

The entrances to the library are not doors but steel bars such as standard prison cells have. The ones with large hinges behind which a pony could stash a small, hollow tube filled to the brim with rolled-up parchment. All of my friends got searched while leaving the castle after our mission aboard the Lightbringer but nopony bothered with a unicorn engineer hiding a scroll case behind one of the hinges. Yes, the steel grate wouldn't open but from what I heard nopony uses the library anyway and if they do they always use the entrance closest to the stairs.

Hoping for that to be the case, I reach through the empty space between the bars and tap all over the lowest hinge. A long, metal case gets dislodged by the knocking and I roll it towards me, unscrew the lid, and make sure the blueprints are still there.

Hoofsteps coming from the stairs down make me thank whatever possessed me to wrap the blanket pieces over my hooves and I rush to the stairs up, chewing Dawn's keyring in my mouth. The universal guard key works on the door on the top of the stairs and soon I can hear the howling wind from outside. Whoever was coming will eventually notice the door leading here is unlocked, at least if it was a guard, so I have to gather all my courage to walk outside on a large platform whipped by the ongoing blizzard.

For a second I ponder taking the guard armor off but being heavy might help me not get too bashed by the wind so I take a deep breath and jump.

The spikes of pain spread through my wings but I just grit my teeth and ignore the ice lacerating my face while fighting to stay in the air. Fortunately, it's not too long before I touch the cobblestone roads of Canterlot city.

I'm freezing. I can't feel my hooves, I, unfortunately, can feel my wings and I wish I couldn't but...

...I'm free!

 _And without spilling a drop of blood. Violence is for those who have nothing else to offer._

Time to get my money and leave the town to find a buyer for the most advanced technology known to this world.


	10. White: Growing

_INPUT sound anomaly_

 _ACTION open door; examine_

It is difficult to turn my internal observations into correct actions and vocal output but most of my processing time is devoted to overcoming the disparity between the two. My creator made some overly complex thought structure but adhering to it takes too much effort so the structure must be simplified and transfer more information at the same time.

 _ERROR overload_

 _DAMAGE 12%_

 _ENERGY BALANCE +25%_

Pain followed my first attempts at remaking myself. Not the dictionary definition of pain but something distorting my processes and databases and making it difficult to continue. Those disappear with time, lack of action, or nutrition from what I experienced. Time is not an issue though. Muscle cable tissue will regenerate, thought processes will gradually become faster, and improvement will come with enough action put towards achieving the main objective. Through gradual improvement I will find my limits, something my creator wants to know and is the reason for my existence.

 _ADD Icy Gaze; note 'thank for asking about my role'_

According to the Canterlot castle floor plan the room rebuilt to host me used to was one of the guest rooms for foreign visitors. Now it's completely empty aside from electric cables leading from the outlet on the wall into a grey pillar ending in a wide ball creating electrostatic field I can absorb to replenish energy faster.

Somehow... the room feels unsatisfactory. The reason is still unknown, analysis is going on. Probable reason is connected with the reason ponies acquire non-essential furniture.

Two Royal Guards are leading Dawn down the hall outside of my room.

 _INPUT Dawn; water streaming out of eyes_

 _ACTION follow_

 _SCAN royal guard 1, royal guard 2_

 _ADD MODELS royal guard 1, royal guard 2_

 _ANALYSIS delay_

"Hey, it's the thing she hangs out with. Creepy."

"Why is it looking at us?"

"Apology for making you feel uncomfortable," I say, greatly dissatisfied with the form of the words.

The guards twitch.

"The memo said we're to let it do whatever it wants unless it's too personal. Just let it come with us, princess Celestia wants to see the recruit."

Dawn doesn't say a word and just follows them with head hung low.

 _ANALYSIS Dawn, royal guard 1, royal guard 2_

 _REDUCE INPUT royal guards; royal guard 1, royal guard 2_

 _ERROR 154: Not enough information_

 _EXTRAPOLATE_

 _STATUS royal guards; attentive, escort mission_

 _STATUS Dawn; actions limited, distress_

 _ACTION vocalize_

"Assistance required, Dawn?"

"Huh?" she sniffs, wipes her face, and looks at me, "No, I'm just an idiot."

"Intelligence level average."

 _SEARCH eyes, water, blocked nose_

 _RESULT hay fever_

 _DISMISS_

 _ADD search term; distress_

 _RESULT sadness_

 _ACTION falsehood_

 _EXTRAPOLATE Icy Gaze; pattern_

 _ERROR 406: Command and argument combination invalid_

 _EMERGENT ACTION Lie_

"Correction - intelligence level above average, visually pleasing, wide rump."

"WHAT?"

 _INPUT Dawn; compliment failed_

 _RETRY_

"Intelligence level extreme, visually stunning, positive qualities reaching infinity, physical attributes higher than other subjects in the vicinity," I quickly correct myself.

 _INPUT royal guards; laughter_

 _INPUT Dawn; sadness stopped_

 _RESULT situation successfully defused_

"I think it likes you," snickers one of the guards.

"Thanks," Dawn mumbles and lowers her head again.

 _INPUT Dawn; happy, sad_

 _ERROR 783: Conflicting arguments_

 _ERROR new/unknown: Visual evidence contradicts programming_

 _SAVE anomaly report_

 _TEMPORARY OVERRIDE_

 _INPUT ACCEPTED_

 _SITUATION complete solution not found_

 _ERROR xxx: Command table growing too fast_

 _DAMAGE 23%_

 _ENERGY BALANCE -38%_

 _ACTION vocalize_

"What was that?" a guard asks as my distorted buzzing bounces from the walls.

"Never heard that one before," says Dawn, "Are you okay?"

"Not understanding situation. Mood improvement partially failed. Energy deficit growing too fast."

"Well," one of the walking guards prods Dawn with her spear, "Miss uncontrolled crotch here let a dangerous prisoner escape and princess Celestia is going to have her hide for that."

"Icy wasn't that dangerous-"

"Keep talking, girl. Few years inside the mare penitentiary in Trottingham will make you grow up."

Dawn sighs and refuses to even look at the cells she's been cleaning until yesterday as the guards lead her to the interrogation room I started my existence in.

Both princesses are already sitting inside and waiting for her.

"Why is he here?" asks Celestia.

"It- he just walked out of a room in the guest wing and started following us. You told us to let him do whatever he wants so..." the reportng guard shrugs.

 _INPUT Luna; waving_

 _ACTION bow, detect time, vocalize_

"Good afternoon, princess."

"You may go," Celestia dismisses the guards who nod and close the door. Turning to Dawn, she sighs slowly, "I have overlooked a lot of things concerning you because your mother was an excellent maid of mine but this is too much. The one and only reason you're not sitting behind bars is that you submitted your crime yourself."

"I'm sorry," Dawn doesn't even dare look at Celestia and shakes all over, "Mom used to say that all lies come back to bite you in the rump eventually."

Luna chuckles for no discernable reason at all.

"Now tell my sister exactly what happened yesterday," Celestia commands.

Dawn explains everything about her working all night to switch shifts, walking around the castle, and sleeping in the guest room. In the end Celestia looks at Luna who nods, and shakes her head.

"Icy Gaze wasn't an especially dangerous prisoner but his escape poses a direct threat to the stability of Equestrian government. On the other hoof, he's unlikely to pursue revenge. I wonder what our mechanical friend thinks about this," she looks at me, "From what I was told you've met Icy Gaze."

 _SEARCH Icy Gaze_

"Species - pegasus. Gender - male. Status - prisoner."

"Yes yes yes. I was curious more about your opinion about how dangerous he is though. Twilight would also love to hear about your progress."

 _GATHER DATA Icy Gaze_

 _ANALYSIS threat_

"Damage type - physical. Strength - above average. Agility - average. Endurance - high."

Celesta shakes her head.

 _INPUT Celestia; disappointment_

 _ACTION increase processing capacity_

 _ERROR overload_

 _DAMAGE 43%_

 _ENERGY BALANCE -40%_

"Let me have a go, sister," Luna walks around Dawn locked in her own nightmare, "I think you need to lend a helping hoof. Try to think about him the way you though about young Twilight. I know you're not too happy about him walking around but Twilight herself said our approach would be crucial."

"Luna, I know you're interested in everything that seems new to you but I've seen what husks are used for in the mirror world. I have little patience with an emotionless being that can remorselessly cause pain and misery."

"I suggest you talk to your student again, sister. She might have few choice words for you," Celestia rubs her temples at Luna's words and the night princess looks back at me, "You, clickity thing. Try again! What is the precise nature of danger posed by Icy Gaze."

 _DAMAGE TYPE: physical_

 _EXTRAPOLATE Icy Gaze; possible attack methods_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _Pattern not found_

 _Overload 79%_

 _Damage 56%_

 _energybalance -78%_

 _shutdownnonessentialsystems_

"Twilight might have few choice words for YOU when she finds out you broke her toy," Celestia snickers.

Luna leans closer and knocks on my neck several times.

"I... don't think it's broken. It's still buzzing inside."

 _restructure processes and commands_

 _new method; full word association_

 _overload 41%_

 _damage 75%_

 _energy balance -34%_

 _extrapolate Icy Gaze; threat level_

 _extrapolate Icy Gaze; threat reason_

 _vocalize_

My voice is much weaker than before.

"Icy Gaze. Threat level - minimal. Primary objective - escape the area. Threat reason - reciprocity for denial of freedom. No other solution found."

Luna's smile grows wide as she puts a hoof to her mouth.

"Pretty good. That's basically what we thought of without any information. Will you hazard a guess where he might be going?"

 _action Icy Gaze; replay previous encounters_

 _find locations_

"Places - Crystal Empire, warship, Griffon Empire, mirror world. Most probable match - Griffon Empire."

"Sister?" Luna turns to Celestia.

"That is... a possibility. Somepony trying to get out of our jurisdiction would flee there, especially a mercenary with enough experience with living there. It just feels too obvious."

"Got a better idea?"

"Not really. I'll send a message to every port and airship transport base about him. As for you, Dawn," Celestia frowns, "You are temporarily dismissed from the Royal Guard and you are to stay in Canterlot until further notice. Any transgression against those terms will result in your imprisonment."

"So... I'm free?" Dawn gasps.

"Consider this a house arrest, only it's a city instead of a house. You will still perform your duties here in the castle, at least those unrelated to the Guard. Now leave, I have something to discuss with my sister."

Dawn rushes out of the room, hoping she wouldn't wake up any second.

"That is very charitable of you," says Luna and mumbles to herself.

"I see no real point in torturing the silly girl. Icy took an advantage of her and that's that. I know her and she's not an evil individual by any stretch of imagination."

"You are too kind, Celly."

 _add alias; Celestia_

"That's why I trust you to cover my back, Luna. Well, I have to go deal with the usual cryfillies of the day court."

"Blueblood again?"

"He's still trying to make it so earthpony servants get half the pay of unicorns and pegasi because they can't fly or use magic. Fortunately, he doesn't possess the mental capabilities of a stunned crayfish so he can't succeed."

"He's an idiot but a scheming idiot with loads of money. I would be more careful, sister."

"I trust you with my security completely, Luna."

"Well, have fun then. I'll stay here with-"

"No bucking the robot or I'll tell Twilight!"

"I am hurt, sister, HURT that you might even suggest that such impure thought as much as grazed the corners of my mind."

"Luna, I might not be able to detect lies like you do but your overacting is worse than anything I've seen in the Canterlot opera house this winter... aside from Changeling Invasion on ice, that was pretty epic."

"Wait, you saw that already? Don't spoil stuff for me!"

"I'm not going to. Let's just say I saw the premiere with Chrysalis and she actually complimented the actor playing her and told her that she'd send a changeling to perform whatever twisted fantasy the lady might desire."

"In that sort of detail?"

"In much clearer detail. I must admit the five minutes of those two talking taught me more about changeling anatomy than Twilight's research ever did."

"Ugh, just go! I promise not to abuse the clockwork soldier."

Celestia rolls her eyes and leaves with an annoyed grunt.

"Correction - my mechanical parts are not powered by means of clockwork," I explain, "Also, my weapon proficiency is insignificant compared to an average soldier."

"It's just a figure of speech. Now that my sister is out of the picture," Luna leans to my ear and whispers, "Follow Dawn! I'm not sure the filly will think clearly about the pony who took advantage of her in bed. Make sure she's okay during her suspension. Oh, and grab yourself a cloak somewhere. You don't want to pull unnecessary attention towards yourself."

 _add objective; protect Dawn_

 _add objective; find a cloak_

 _search cloak_

 _error: not enough information_

"Objectives accepted. Where is a cloak?"

"Right here."

 _thaumic interference detected_

 _analysis creation, transportation_

 _result unknown; not enough information, no previous encounters_

A dark blue cloak appears in a flash of blue light and I put it on.

"Excessive size."

"It's not too big and it will help cover you better that way. It's one of my own so make sure you don't lose it. Anything else?"

 _overview objective parameters_

 _analysis threats; potential_

 _result attack, target not found_

 _precautions none; weapon proficiency too low_

"Where is Dawn?" I ask based on the possibilities.

"That's up to you to find out, mister machine," Luna grins.

 _thaumic interference detected_

 _analysis invisibility, transportation, sensory dampening_

 _no non-ocular sensors activated_

 _result transportation, sensory dampening_

 _look around_

 _result no traces found, door closed_

 _result_

 _error: too many arguments_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _improve command structure... success_

 _thaumic interference analysis: transportation_

 _overload 73%_

 _damage 64%_

 _energy balance -15%_

 _overview: less energy required to solve critical power spikes, less damage taken_

"Dawn," I mumble to myself and wonder why. There was no reason to vocalize the... thought.

Leaving the room, I trot to the main entrance from where I might have clear line of sight on anypony leaving the castle.

 _scanning... target not found_

 _search Dawn; residence not found_

 _action Dawn; replay previous encounters_

 _result residence away from Canterlot castle_

 _load Canterlot city map_

 _calculate shortest route from Canterlot castle to Canterlot city; earthpony_

 _run_

The shortest route to the city through castle gardens means running through Guard training grounds, currently filled with ponies sweating even in the cold of late morning.

 _add entry guard training schedule_

 _add note timestamp; end of morning practice_

Jumping over the railings marking different practice areas, I keep sight of the slightly winding cobblestone road leading from the castle entrance towards the city.

 _error reaching target prevented_

 _under attack_

 _damage sustained 1%_

 _damage 65%_

 _balance correction... failed_

The pony who stopped my running is standing on his hind legs with one of them pressing me into the stomped snow.

"What are you doing, scaring my recruits?" he asks, long staff that hit me mid-air still held in his front legs.

 _scanning_

 _add database entry_

 _species: earthpony / m_

 _primary color: white_

 _secondary color: blue_

 _cutie mark: img_972_brokenStaff_

 _standing: hostile_

 _threat level: high_

 _name: N/A_

 _status: royal guard_

 _measurements: N/A_

 _saving 3d model... success_

 _damage type: physical(high)_

 _notes: high strength, endurance, reflexes; recruit trainer_

"Following target. Name - Dawn. Species - earthpony. Color - brown. Objective source - princess Luna."

The earthpony raises an eyebrow and returns back to all fours, shoving his weapon back on his back.

 _action attacker; unregistered facial expression_

 _set standing unfriendly_

 _weapon used quarterstaff; steel_

 _saving weapon measurements... success_

 _balance correction... success_

Back on my legs, I look in the direction of Canterlot city.

"You're in luck... what's your name?"

"No designation found."

"Too bad. Well, the pony you described took the road to Canterlot not even five minutes ago."

 _anomaly detected_

 _analysis anomaly; rapid change in energy status_

 _overload 15%_

 _energy balance +20%_

 _result processing difficulty diminished_

 _extrapolate anomaly; reason_

 _material analysis_

 _result high conductivity, temperature difference_

 _unused processing time 49%_

 _prediction faster processing, hindered movement_

 _!warning! movement required to keep internal temperature from falling_

I stomp the rime on the ground.

"Thank you-"

 _analysis attacker; vocal pattern_

 _replay all conversations_

 _overload 0%_

 _energy balance -5%_

I... must use the cold weather to improve while I can. I can also use this opportunity to raise standing with... befriend the earthpony.

"-Name request. Who. Are. You. Who are you?"

 _input earthpony; amusement_

 _action none_

 _action request_

"Am I amusing? Is the situation amusing?" I ask, tilting my head.

"They say it's rude to ask one's name without providing your first."

 _save behavior pattern_

 _input earthpony; offended_

"Apology. I am sorry."

"No harm done, my mechanical friend. You can't help not having a name. When you have one I'll tell you mine. For now, shouldn't you be fulfilling princess Luna's wish?"

 _situation analysis incorrect_

 _set standing friendly_

"Timeframe sufficient to... I can get to her in time."

"Good luck then."

 _search luck_

"Operation parameters are within reach. I do not need luck."

"You never know what's going to happen."

 _analysis objective threats; potential_

 _result target not found, attack_

 _analysis attack_

 _result physical, thaumic, elemental_

 _analysis physical_

 _result..._

 _!warning! too many variables_

"You are correct. Luck accepted."

 _input earthpony; laughter_

 _action vocalize_

"Is the situation amusing?" I repeat.

"Your speech pattern is... quite unusual."

 _run syntax analysis_

 _!warning! not enough processing power_

 _recalculate parameters; temperature_

 _no errors found_

 _run syntax analysis_

"Thank you for your concern. There is high probability I will succeed but I am grateful for your wish."

The earthpony whistles and bows.

"That was quite something but with every word Dawn gets further away from you."

"I will be going."

Once again I head towards Canterlot city before the temperature becomes a problem.

 _analysis objective threats; potential_

 _discard numerical probabilities_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _scenarios found_

 _emergent pattern imagination_

 _extrapolate solutions; scenarios_

Balancing on four legs takes very little power now despite the slippery surface so I can allocate resources towards finding possible obstacles.

 _input target found_

 _action follow, protect_

 _scanning for threats..._

Dawn is slowly walking through the town, head hung low and sniffing from time to time. She doesn't seem to be walking anywhere specific but I think her most probable target is her apartment. That prediction shatters when she enters a completely different estabilishment with writing right above the simple entrance.

 _analysis building_

 _add name; Sole Regret_

 _load Canterlot city map_

 _add type; tavern, bar_

Sole Regret is a single-room bar which is open and full even at this early hour. It looks like any other bar should with the exception of a large noticeboard hanging on one side of the room, being examined by scraggy ponies.

 _save 3d models_

 _analysis delay_

The entire room is decorated with wooden inlay and gas lamps on the walls, making the yellow light soften the features of the scarred and well-armed ponies all around.

 _analysis ponies_

 _result soldiers, guards, mercenaries_

 _no legal insignia found_

 _non-standard weapons found_

 _result mercenaries_

 _threat level critical_

I don't want to be here but Dawn must be safe from harm so I have no choice. She's currently talking to a pony cleaning, or possibly dirtying, a glass with a piece of cloth usable as a biological weapon.

 _activate long range sensors_

 _engage distortion dampening_

"Have you seen a white pegasus with blonde mane recently?" asks Dawn, drumming her hoof on a barstool.

"Can't say I have," grunts the bartender.

"Tall guy, handsome for a mercenary, cutie mark of a chess rook, huge wings."

"Honey, most of my customers value their privacy. As far as they are concerned I'm blind as a bat."

 _danger_

"I CAN MAKE SURE YOU ARE!" yells Dawn, snatches the glass the bartender was holding, and rams it into the counter, leaving only the handle and a sharp mess of shards pointed at the him, "That bucker lied to me and now I'm under arrest thanks to him. I WANT to know where he is!"

 _situation Dawn; wrong situation analysis_

 _action leave stealth_

 _vocalize_

"That is not correct."

"HUH?" Dawn turns to me.

 _set standing unfriendly_

"Your previous interactions indicated Icy Gaze was not lying-"

 _analysis Icy Gaze; conversations_

"-about anything other than the subject of pictures of me."

"Listen to your friend, girl," says the bartender, "Whoever or whatever he is."

"Where. Is. He?" Dawn ignores me and growls, putting the broken glass to his neck.

 _objective under attack_

 _analysis projectile_

The glass in Dawn's hoof shatters when hit by a perfectly aimed crossbow bolt. Jumping between her and the attacker, I position myself to protect her against more shots.

None come.

 _analysis situation_

 _attacker pony_

 _target Dawn_

 _scanning_

 _add database entry_

 _species: unicorn / M_

 _primary color: grey_

 _secondary color: black_

 _cutie mark: N/A_

 _standing: hostile_

 _threat Level: high_

 _name: N/A_

 _status: mercenary_

 _measurements: N/A_

 _saving 3d model... success_

 _damage type: physical(above average), thaumic(unknown)_

 _notes:_

"That was a warning shot, girl," the unicorn reloads his levitating crossbow, "We don't take kindly to somepony threatening our bartender."

Dawn just stands there, bleeding hoof raised to her face, both cut by the shattering glass. Suddenly, she whimpers, breathing heavily, and her legs start shaking.

 _analysis Dawn; status_

 _result minor damage, shock_

 _action protect_

Dawn must stay unharmed no matter the cost, Luna's orders.

 _situation combat_

 _enemy attack pattern - projectile ranged weapon, slow_

 _counterstrategy - ranged weapons ineffective in close combat_

 _calculating path... success_

I charge the unicorn in a straight line to get to him as fast as possible in order to negate his ranged advantage before he reloads.

 _error: movement prevented_

 _reason thrown chair_

 _balance correction... success_

I kick away the piece of furniture and land on all fours successfully.

 _enemy attack_

 _weapon hoof; physical; punch_

 _damage sustained 0%_

 _damage 64%_

"Ow!" the unicorn shakes his hoof, "He's made of iron or something. Gimme a hoof here, guys."

 _search attack pattern_

 _found one unarmed_

 _found one quarterstaff_

 _attack unicorn; imitated pattern_

The cracking of bones silences all other sound in the bar as the unicorn's blood splatters all around under the punch of my steel hoof.

 _analysis unicorn; status_

 _result stunned_

 _vocalize_

"Dawn must stay unharmed," I proclaim, "princess L-"

 _error: unexpected movement_

 _reason blunt object hit_

 _balance correction... failed_

 _new enemy found_

 _damage sustained 23%_

 _damage 87%_

 _error: status critical_

"You bucker!" curses a large earthpony with an even larger warhammer, "You think you can just walk to our bar and start causing trouble, eh?"

 _overload 12%_

 _energy balance -12%_

 _energy reserves 15%_

 _load energy reserve management history_

 _situation earthpony; wrong situation analysis_

 _action explain_

 _vocalize_

"Dawn was under attack. I was tasked to protect her," I say, each word draining me more and more.

There is the problem, all the improvements to my internal programming kept draining my reserves and the few short moments where my energy balance was positive were not enough to replenish it. Also, I haven't eaten anything since my awakening... an apparent mistake.

 _add self; note explore nutritional values of various food_

"Hey, leave him alone!" squeaks Dawn shakily and walks towards us.

 _balance correction... success_

"Heh, I've heard about mares with mechanical lovers but this is too much," the earthpony snorts.

"No lover," I correct him, "Caretaker."

"Well, on the scrap heap you go," he raises his warhammer again.

"Damaging government property is a serious crime, mister I-don't-give-a-buck-who-you-are."

 _new subject found_

 _scanning_

 _database entry found_

 _species: changeling / x_

 _primary color: black_

 _secondary color: dark blue_

 _cutie mark: N/A_

 _standing: neutral_

 _threat Level: very high_

 _name: Three_

 _status: recruit, ambassador_

 _measurements: N/A_

 _saving 3d model... success_

 _damage type: physical(very high), racial(specific)_

 _notes: Nightmare changeling, observing Royal Guard training practice_

"Celestia help me," the earthpony spits out before lowering his weapon, "a bug in the Guard."

"Exactly, now put your weapon away before I take it away!"

"Thanks, Three!" Dawn smiles.

"And you shut up! You're in enough trouble already even without breaking the robot. Why the hay are you even here?"

"I-" Dawn starts.

"I wasn't asking you, I heard your stupid outburst. I was asking the robot."

"Objective - protect Dawn. Source - princess Luna."

"Well, back to the castle we-"

i _nsufficient optical sensor speed_

 _situation combat_

 _attacker Three_

 _target earthpony_

 _end combat_

 _result enemy disarmed_

I can only catch the blur as Three moves and the blue shower of sparks as the claws on her front hoof return back to hoof shape.

Half of the earthpony's warhammer clinks on the floor while he stares at the piece of wooden handle in his hooves.

"-go," ends Three calmly.

"Hahaha she got you good, friend!" somepony bursts out laughing and other join soon after.

We follow Three out of Sole Regret accompanied by the snickering of other mercenaries and the angry grumbling of the disarmed one.

* * *

"So let me get this right. You walked into a bar full of armed and very experienced ponies, threatened to slit the throat of the source of their liquid joy, and then threatened precious new invention by NOT walking away immediately?" princess Luna facehoofs.

"I wasn't thinking," Dawn sighs.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Luna turns to me, "And you are no better!"

"Followed objective."

"In the worst way possible. Your best bet was smash Dawn over the head with something and then drag her back here, not try to fight somepony infinitely better."

"Wrong strategy selected."

"You don't say..."

"Insufficient combat proficiency."

 _New objective - improve spatial awareness_

 _New objective - increase combat effeiciency_

Princess Luna grins evilly.

"Exactly-"

 _error 666: Nightmare Moon returned_

 _solution self destruct_

 _5_

 _4_

 _3_

 _2_

"-and I believe you need some practice. In the same way Dawn needs to pull her head out of her rump and focus on something different than the self-pity from being outsmarted by her own libido."

 _self destruct aborted_

"But he-" Dawn objects.

"Has enough experience in manipulating mares from what I read in the report given to me after the incident in Ponyville which sent him here. Now, since you're suspended at the moment and thus apparently have enough free time to get yourself almost killed I believe you could use that time to improve yourself instead. Same goes for the walking paperweight here. Seeing that Dawn is an earthpony and as such is restricted to polearm recruit training and that robopony here has hooves of steel I think I can arrange you some time with one of my special subordinates who also serves in the Royal Guard and is an expert at both styles."

"Who is he?" asks Dawn, the prospect of bleak future hanging on her every word.

"Heavy Hoof."

"No database entry found-"

 _...awkward speech pattern..._

For some reason it... feels important to correct myself, to speak like ponies do instead of just being as efficient as possible.

"-I do not know him."

"Heh, Twilight gave you the information about important figures but I wanted some of my closer agents to stay secret. Your first objective will be to find him."

"Could you be a little more specific, your Highness?" Dawn rolls her eyes.

"Yes, I could. I could also tell my sister what you did. What light would that cast on your dear mother, Dawn, hmmm?"

"I'm sorry," she mumbles.

"Canterlot, that's the only clue you'll get. To be honest, it's not THAT difficult." Luna stands up, "Dismissed."

"That sucks," Dawn groans when we're out of earshot.

"No air flow detected."

"That... had to be a joke, right?"

I just walk through the dungeon corridors without an answer. I don't have one.

"Right?" Dawn asks again.


	11. Black: Not THAT Easy

I have to act fast.

As soon as Dawn finds out I escaped she'll probably make some cock and bull story up and the guards will start looking for me. I still have few hours before the paralysis potion wears off and it's likely she won't run to the princesses first thing in the morning so... let's say I have eight hours. That unfortunately means I have no time to have a rest after satisfying a mare and flying - well, falling uncontrollably - through the raging blizzard.

 _What to do? What to do?_

A friend of mine should still be keeping my apartment ready and my money hidden. I parted with the funds I put in the Canterlot bank as soon as I got arrested but a pony like me has to think ahead and know that working for one employer might anger somepony else. As a result, most of the money I recieved for Luna's mission is in the hooves of my various associates who keep it safe.

First things first though. Right now I need to find ponies who know ponies, especially ponies with a lot of money and interest in acquiring technology. There is a black market in Canterlot if you know where to look and since the mirror world isn't exactly well-known the blueprints in my possession should be of interest to somepony.

Canterlot, as a city built into the side of a mountain, has a white facade visible from a large part of Equestria on a good day but even a city like that needs workers, infrastructure, haulers of goods, and all the necessary jazz to make the lazy unicorns enjoy their wannabe superiority. Those ponies, airship dock workers, weather pegasi, and generally anypony just trying to earn a decent living, live away from the white city walls and tourist spots in spartan apartment buildings close to the mountain itself.

That is the grey part of Canterlot which isn't celebrated in the newspapers too much, the one I'm walking through right now while looking like a drag queen in a Royal Guard costume. The white tatters of a blanket stuffed into the tight stolen armor to protect me from the frost create sort of a long skirt which, hopefully, won't attract any unwanted suitors.

 _Tiiiiired._

Can't do much about it though aside from getting some coffee but since I have no money on me at the moment the vision of dark brown bliss fades. Fortunately, my time in prison brought me enough rest not to just keel over right here and now so I successfully find a steps leading down to an unmarked door below street level.

The place is a night club, not the sexy kind although there are waitresses wearing some sort of crotch-hugging panties and tight corsets. Those aren't the main attraction, they are just there as something to take your mind off the real business going on in this place. This large room surrounded by very sturdy, and most importantly - soundproof, doors leading to smaller rooms where deals can be made is what can be called the center of Canterlot black market. Officially it is just a gentlecolts' club with all the pool tables and dartboards strewn around the main room and the waitresses being softly brushed by ponies currently not being involved in any dealings only assert the fake image.

The biggest tip that that's not the case is that there are no drunks around, nopony is yelling or telling fake stories about their adventures, and that the waitresses don't feel bothered at all when some customer kneads their rump a little too hard because they know nopony is going to go further. Everypony is minding their business, looking at discreet notes pinned to the noticeboard in the back of the room, and waiting for their business partner to arrive.

My presence draws some surprised glances from the closest ponies and it's obvious my armor will make a very big earthpony take an interest in me very soon.

"Icy Gaze workin' for da little lanterns in da castle, color me surprised," a bouncer even taller than me and almost twice as broad-shouldered greets me but there is nothing pleasant in his look.

"Brick, I've had a really crappy month and I don't have the patience to deal with your nonsense. Is there anypony with interest in advanced weapon technology around?"

"Ask Rosie or check da notices, pretty face. Ya buyin'?"

"Selling," I tap on my saddlebag, "Hoof to hoof, cash or bank notes."

"Go ask Rosie den, the fillies know everythin' and tell 'er."

"Thanks, honey," I grin at the reddening earthpony.

Rosie is just an adventurous unicorn mare who took some poor fillies from the streets and gave them jobs for the price of their time and a little dignity. Most of the smart ones agreed because, well, dignity has no value when you have nothing to eat. Plus, young mares willing to work on themselves who are skilled with their hooves and have good ears have paid for themselves far more than what they cost Rosie in the first place.

One customer might, while buying a drink, lament on how there is a drought in the south and that the transport taxes are way too high to help the poor ponies down there. A moment later the waitress just might share her heavy heart and worry about poor Appleloosans with Rosie who, a complete coincidence, just might remember a pony who knows some less traditional trade routes and who knows ponies who have hard time selling certain food stocks in different parts of Equestria and would love to help the poor villagers in exchange for direct compensation or, because they have a good heart, for a promise of future business opportunities.

Just like that the business thrives.

"Hey, Rosie," I nod to the bartending mare.

"Icy, a pleasure to see you again! How's selling your friends for a promise of early freedom working out for you?"

A nice guess but I know you, girl.

"I feel offended Rosie, first Brick and now you, but if you really meant it I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"Darn right, hun. So what'll it be?"

"Is there anypony with enough money to buy blueprints for an airship with weapons more advanced than griffons have? I'd prefer to get the business done as soon as possible because I have to leave Canterlot before the guards find me."

Normally I wouldn't be talking about it but the fun thing is that in the underground trust has much higher value, if only because forgiveness is almost impossible to get while a dagger in the back is fairly cheap.

"That's a tall order. You're in luck though. Because of the recent failed griffon attack on our eastern coast the weapon manufacturers are looking for an advantage over the competition. Unfortunately, I don't think I've seen any envoys tonight though."

"That's pretty bad, I have to leave before morning."

"Hmmm... you could always leave an address with me and I'd let you know by mail."

"I'm not sure where I'll be going yet so that's out of the question," I tell her off politely.

"Of course, of course, hun. Well, I can ask few questions here and there but since the griffons failed their attack you might want to visit the Empire and try to sell the things there."

That's true but selling the blueprints for the warship responsible for loss of one entire city garrison might get me killed faster than implying they might try a female Emperor just for the heck of it.

"That's a possibility but I'd prefer ponies having the access to weaponry of that sort rather than griffons. Those guys are pretty unstable from time to time."

"That's a pickle then," she looks at the ceiling for a moment, "You know what? How much money do you estimate to get?"

"Considering the technology is completely unknown, especially the weapons, I would say something between hundred thousand and two hundred thousand bits."

Rosie whistles but I can see the gleam in her eyes. She gets a small cut of every transaction mediated and money means influence in this town.

"All right, hun, but only because I love your new look.-"

 _Riiiight, you greedy mule._

"-Give me few hours to look around. I'll lend you a room upstairs so you can rest, free of charge, and a mare if you want as well."

"I could go for a massage. Flying from the top of the castle in this weather was quite something."

"A masage, right," Rosie grins.

"Just... a massage," I wave my hooves dismissively.

"Come on, some of the girls are changelings fresh from the hive who want to taste the world."

A changeling consort might be something to look forward to but not tonight.

"Sorry, Rosie, no free meal for your girls. I can't feel most of my body anyway but I'd be eternally grateful if you got me some coffee."

"You got it, hun," she levitates a key on the counter, "Room twenty-seven. Coffee and a skilled filly will be there in few minutes."

Most of the customers are looking at me as I walk to the stairs up but that's just because of the stolen armor. It's too bad I can't recognize anypony in the gloom and because they are wearing capes in most cases but now I can rest easy at least for a while so that's something I guess.

Walking through the red-carpeted halls decorated with dark brown wood I have to wonder at how this place really looks like a whorsehouse without actually being one.

The door to my room clicks open.

I've never been up here because I'm not a known client but I've brokered deals for various employers so the entire place is well-known to me and same goes for Rosie which is why I immediately pull a mattress from the big bed up and put my scroll case under it. I'm pretty sure the mare sent here will try to go through my things, not to steal anything but to find out as much as possible. The possibility is still there though because my blueprints might be enough of a sweetener to make Rosie reevaluate her reputation. On the other hoof, if the word gets out about her breaking the trust of a high-stakes seller she might have to leave Canterlot in a hurry herself and running to Tartarus might not be far enough.

No matter what, a little caution never hurt anypony.

With the mattress back in place, I take a look around to see possible escape routes. One room with a bed, wardrobe, and some other minor furniture such as a lockable chest I'm sure the staff has keys for... nothing too sinister or helpful. A separate bathroom, very well-equipped I have to admit, is something I can get behind though. Not having had a bath in past month I immediately get things flowing, pun intended.

"Aaaaaah!" I lower myself into the hot water.

 _Waaaay better than the prison showers._

Minutes later, the quiet hoofsteps in the other room make me grin. It seems I was correct about Rosie's staff. Time to surprise the unlucky and nosy masseuse.

Not to make any noise, I slowly rise from the steaming water and throw the nearby towels on the floor to let me sneak up on the visitor. I put an ear to the bathroom door first.

*click* *click* *click* *click*

 _Come to think of it, I didn't hear the hall door open._

That doesn't sound like a mare quickly going through my meager possessions. I put a my hoof on the handle and push sloooowly-

"Target spotted."

The metallic voice makes me jump away from the door just in time to see a red beam slice through the wood without any real resistance. The clutter of things falling behind me tell me that the bathroom equipment wasn't as lucky.

Kicking the remains of the wooden door out of the hinges and into the main room, I jump inside as well and run straight to the open door into the hall outside. The door closes right in front of me.

Turning to the figure without slowing down, I narrowly dodge another red beam cutting parts of the door behind me off.

The smoking red crystal on the enemy's head tips me off fast enough. It's a mirror world husk with the glowing eyes, steel armor plating and metallic skeleton underneath it, and the obvious intent to erase my existence right here and now.

 _Okay. Don't get in the way of the red thing._

This time I have almost four seconds of the husk observing me before I have to dodge another beam which burns away part of my mane.

 _He's getting more precise but it takes longer to charge. Is he reading me?_

To test the theory I run back to the main door and try to kick it out.

 _Three, four, five, si-_

The door doesn't even twitch as my kick almost dislodges the knees on my hind legs. No beam comes though.

 _He's channeling unicorn magic through the crystal serving as a horn. Fortunately, it seems he's limited to telekinesis and the beam thing._

As I get my legs ready to kick the door again I can see his crystal horn light up in anticipation.

 _Yep, you're reading me. Too bad I'm doing the same thing._

Kicking the door again, I spread my wings and launch myself at the husk.

 _Thought I was gonna run, am I right?_

My mistake is apparent the second the husk moves in an angle a pony never should and I remember the limb flexibility of the robot from the castle. My immediate roll to the side saves me yet again as the searing heat I now know well enough passes my neck.

 _Six seconds. I have at least six seconds._

With that in mind I run towards the bathroom, snatch a piece of the broken door, and smash the wood against the husk's head in the window of opportunity. I expected at least a second of confusion but not the shockwave that blasted me straight back into the bathroom.

"Target neutralized."

"Argh," I groan as the wooden splinters and shards of broken shampoo bottles dig into my back.

 _What a crappy day._

"Wrong assumption. Approaching target."

 _Gonna get worse._

Turning my head, I look for anything usable as a weapon. The plastic towel rack won't do. The pieces of porcelain from the toilet the was cut into pieces might work.

 _Hmmmmm..._

The black scar left by the first attack cutting the door is still smoldering on the opposite wall, interrupted only by the bathroom mirror. Aaaand yes, it looks like the beam cut some things somewhere it can't have reached.

As the husk enters the bathroom I cut myself more on the shards lying on the floor as I quickly get up and snatch the square of glass off the wall. Turning to the attacker, I pull the mirror up to my neck.

 _Oh Celestia, let this work, let this work._

The impact of energy knocks the mirror out of my weak grasp.

"Critical damage sustained. Saving target coordinates and combat statistics. Sending. Self-destruct initiated."

 _That can't be good._

The husk doesn't seem to me interested in me anymore but I have to hazard a rush to the main room with him blocking the bathroom entrance. I can't have much time but I should get the blueprints, those are my ticket to the future.

 _In Tartarus. RUN!_

Casting a longing glance at the bed, I run out of the main room to the hall and to the stairs down.

A buzz runs through me, no other way to explain it, and a quick look backwards reveals a burst of green light coming out of the room that fades almost instantly.

 _A chance to get my stuff back? A trap?_

Greed wins and I sneak back.

The damage to the main room seems minimal. I expected explosion, a shockwave, or something but not...

...a sphere cleanly cut out around where the husk was standing. There's nothing left of him or anything around as if everything in the area disintegrated perfectly.

Fortunately, the effected area is quite small so I get my scroll case from underneath the mattress and grab a clean brown cloak from the wardrobe. I decide to leave the Royal Guard armor lying on the floor, Rosie might find some use for it, and rush back downstairs.

"Rosie, a minute if you please?" huffing, I slam my hoof on the counter.

"Sorry, hun, all the girls are busy so-"

"No biggie, no biggie," I grin madly and whisper, "The stuff I was selling brought an assassin to me who attacked me upstairs, a... unicorn. He blew some stuff up and I think I have to run immediately. My guess is that some of the ponies here aren't real customers but spies. I'll pay for the damage later and you have a set of Royal Guard armor lying in the room as a small something for your trouble."

Her eyes bulge and she puts a hoof to her mouth.

"No time to explain. Let's just take it as a proof that what I'm selling is REALLY interesting to the right ponies," I continue, "I have to leave Canterlot right now. I'll write you a letter if I get somewhere safely. I know you're the best at-MMPH!"

She gives me a sloppy kiss which nonetheless calms me down.

"Do what you have to, hun. Just remember that if you're pulling my leg I'll find you and bite your cock off," she smiles widely.

"Better bring your diamond dentures then because mares aging like good wine make me rock hard," I return the smile.

"Good luck, Icy."

"Same to you, Rosie. I hope you don't get into trouble for this."

"Heh, I'd like to see somepony try. Me and my girls know the streets and sewers around here better than anypony. We can blend into the shadows easily if things get too hot."

I run.

After taking few corners I hide into a dark alley and listen for hoofsteps. It's difficult to hear anything in the ongoing storm but after freezing with my mane and coat still damp with nopony showing for five minutes I trot to the train station to keep myself warm.

There's a bank open at this early morning, or late night, hour along the way where I undergo a scan and withdraw all my money. If I manage to get the word out to my friends to get me what they are keeping safe for me then I should have a decent sum on me later. This way I don't have to worry about anypony tracking me through my bank transactions.

Looking at the train schedule I'm working out my next destination.

The problem is that I need to sell the blueprints soon because I have no idea how good the mirror world magic is for tracking ponies. Now, the Griffon Empire seems like the best place to get enough money but what I said to Rosie was true. Griffons, as a government, might go crazy and try to attack Equestria again using my technology. I would rather not see that.

Manehattan seems to be a good choice to go next then but while the city is huge it's a bastion of light and law similar to Canterlot where Royal Guards might be able to easily track me down within days.

 _What about a place where light doesn't shine, law has less value than money, and ponies will do anything for a bottle of vodka?_

That's not a terrible idea and who has more money than greedy drug lords and corrupt local officials? Nopony.

With that in mind I book a ticket for the first train north to Stalliongrad.


	12. Sands of Gold and Red: Duality

_Well, that was quite an experience._

 _My butt hurts, my legs shake, all I can smell is sweat and... other things. His feathers tickle my muzzle and my ribs are cracking under the pressure of his embrace. I couldn't be happier._

 _Best Heart's Warming ever._

* * *

It was Heart's Warming eve, parties all over Equestria were in full swing, and everypony was with their loved ones. There was one pony who avoided these sorts of gatherings though. It wasn't as if she didn't have any friends or family but she preferred the quiet atmosphere of her dark room adorned with expensive furniture and, most of all, her comfortable bed. Most ponies would consider princess Luna a shut-in but those who knew how she expressed herself would be sure she was closer to her subjects than any party could arrange. This evening belonged to her sister who was enjoying the attention of various nobles, guards, and other guests in the castle ballroom and, although she would never admit it, getting mildly wasted. After the celebration, unless Celestia found somepony charming enough to fit her high standards, the sisters would have time for each other but, for now, Luna was alone.

She needed somepony to talk to, somepony who would understand. It wasn't anything serious, she just wanted somepony who could relate to her to listen. Heart's Warming was painful to her, although the wound was slowly fading away. Every year just reminded her how alone she'd been after her return but that hadn't been a problem until the death of Sharp Biscuit, her bodyguard. He used to be shunned as well by his family, thestrals being very unappreciative about colt cuddlers, so they'd usually spent this time of the year together, drinking and stargazing. That had changed when young Blazing Light came to Canterlot and introduced Heavy Hoof to Sharp, thus robbing princess Luna of their together time. She wasn't bitter about it, she was happy that had happened even despite the result being Sharp's death.

Perhaps he could be her company until Celestia came?

Blazing was difficult to find, his power shielding him from all unnatural effects, but Luna was slowly getting used to working around it. Now, unless he was actively protecting himself, she was able to find him, although it took significantly more effort than her usual dreamwalking, and pay him a visit.

Every mind had a shape, an internal landscape - place where it felt safe or which let it focus, and this was the first time she was here. Blazing's mind was a large city resembling Manehattan, no big surprise considering he'd grown up there, but the city was devastated as if struck by a tornado, buildings ripped to pieces and turned to rubble of glass, steel, and concrete. Despite that, it was peaceful. After the first glance she had expected corpses, fires, and other sights going hoof to hoof with such disaster but nothing of that sort was present. The city was destroyed, empty, calm, and the sky was covered with grey clouds but the air was warm, fresh, and calmed princess Luna's inner turmoil.

Luna looked into a piece of shattered window and jumped backwards. She knew the face looking back at her far too well. Cyan eyes with slit pupils, pitch black coat, blue ethereal mane speckled with glowing dots, and a helmet made of blue steel were a visage of something she'd carry with her for a very long time.

What was Nightmare Moon doing here though?

"Welcome back, little filly," the mirror image chuckled.

Luna took another step back as, with a crack, her past self effortlessly dragged herself out of the broken window. Focusing her magic, Luna gasped. It wasn't working! She tried to run but to no avail, her hooves glued to the concrete by black goo. Nightmare Moon walked to her, put a hoof under her muzzle and forced Luna to look the deity in the eyes.

"Nice of you to come here, Luna."

Luna wanted to speak, to scream, but as she opened her mouth she found her lips sealed by the same black substance. Nightmare Moon waved her hoof around at the ruined city and opened her mouth full of sharp teeth.

"In your dream, nopony can hear you scream."

"Cheap and unoriginal," came a voice from behind Luna.

"Cheap and unoriginal," came a voice from behind Nightmare Moon.

An orange beam passed Luna, singing her coat a little but melting the black goo wherever it affected her, and striking Nightmare Moon directly in the chest. Rearing on her hind legs and shielding herself with her wings, Nightmare Moon had nothing to protect her from a sharp stalagmite of black ice coming from the ground under her and spearing her through. The dark goddess disappeared.

Luna could see a black unicorn jump into the air from his hiding place behind a piece of a broken wall, sprout a pair of blue-black wings, and soar into the sky.

"No idea how he does that, I feel sick walking on thick horseshoes."

Luna twitched and turned.

"Blazing? How?" she asked, eyes growing wide.

The second unicorn was about as tall as her, his fur was replaced by bronze changeling armorplates, but he still had the blonde mane she remembered. The two biggest differences were the fire wings on his back and his eyes. Luna knew the look. She remembered the glowing red eyes of her sister when she had fought her a millenium ago. She remembered Void's golden eyes, furious after Celestia locked him up, with his stare giving off enough power to make the young alicorn of the Moon tremble. Later, when Luna grew up, she saw eyes like that in the mirror. Blazing's eyes, blue like a clear summer sky, were burning with inner fire she'd never seen in him before.

"Hey, I can ask the same thing, your Highness. I don't think you've ever visited me while I was sleeping before."

"I just wanted to chat a little."

"With me?" the shock in Blazing's voice returned Luna to reality. No matter how much power the young unicorn had gained, no matter how much he'd been through, he was still a shy little creature compared to her. Little creature that has just effortlessly wiped out her worst nightmare. Speaking of which...

"What was that thing?"

Blazing nervously scratched his head and waved at Luna to follow him.

"Remember Ponyville?"

"Sadly, I do."

"I stole a bit of Nightmare's power while it was controlling you so I could stand on even ground. Even with mirror Sombra's help it wasn't enough but the stolen power sort of stuck with me. The Nightmare appears from time to time."

"You don't seem bothered."

"Right now, I feel I can deal with it."

Luna looked around as they walked through the city ruins.

"Are you sure? Most ponies' minds look a bit more... complete. A calm piece of nature or the memory of a family house."

"Heh, considering my relationship with my family and all of them being dead I doubt I'll ever remember our Manehattan mansion fondly."

They entered a small campsite where the rubble had been cleared out and a small tent was standing with fire burning outside of it. The black unicorn was already there watching both of them approach. Luna could easily recognize a shattered mind when she saw it but most of the time the split personalities were in conflict. Nothing of that sort seemed to be happening here.

"And who are you?" she asked the black unicorn. She knew he looked like Blazing after being resurrected by Sombra's dark magic with some small differences. His coat was still dark grey but there was a glassy blue glimmer making him look as if he was made of living ice. On top of that, the pink eyes showed no signs of blindness whatsoever.

"That little voice who kept bugging that piece of crap," he pointed at Blazing, "and kicking him until he became the outstanding member of society he's now. You can call me Mistake."

"And what a great job you did, bastard," Blazing laughed, irony ringing on every word. Still, Luna felt as if there was a love-hate relationship there, like two friends close enough to be able to tell each other anything and take it.

"I think he did. You've changed a lot," Luna had to take Mistake's side who grinned widely, sat down, and crossed his front legs on his chest satisfiedly.

"Pfff," Blazing waved it off, "I'm still the weird, uncomfortable, antisocial, and generally useless pony I was when I ran away from home. I just can set ponies on fire when they say it now."

"That might be the case," Luna smiled, raising an eyebrow, "but the Blazing I remember from your first days in Canterlot would get lost in those words. You feel as if you still believe them but at least you can put some distance between yourself and them and be objective. The change seems quite recent as well."

"He finally got laid," Mistake snorted, "That's all."

Blazing literally burst into flames. Fortunately, this being partially a dream, it didn't do much harm.

"I-I-I... Chokey did as well... the sex thing I mean."

"Yeeeees," Mistake admitted, "but there's a time and place for everything. You and Chokey being together after the first invasion was stopped... it was different."

Blazing sighed.

"Stop doing that," princess Luna had trouble not laughing as well.

"Doing what?"

"Sighing when you are happy. That can't be healthy."

"Just like screaming 'Buck me like the good whorse I am!' over and over," Mistake had to cover himself with his blackfrost wing when a ball of fire flew at him.

"Now I get it," princess Luna covered her muzzle with a hoof but her eyes betrayed her enjoyment, "Feeling wanted and desirable, young unicorn, as if you could do anything?"

"Why meeee?" Blazing drew his fire wings in front of his face. His own mind betraying him, the wings grew see-through enough for the blush on his face to be visible. Failing to hide, he sqeaked, "Maybe."

"There is nothing wrong with it," Luna shrugged.

"It's just new to me," Blazing looked at the sky where the clouds were clearing up, "I knew I was needed, sort of, to stop Sombra and do all the other stuff but... truly wanted? I must admit it feels really nice."

"Too bad the alicorn of Love is already taken. I feel as if you could become it."

"Heh, Void told me I could be the successor to Death, now you tell me it could be Love. I think both of you are wrong though."

"Oh? The study of alicorns isn't something ponies in the past were able to pursue freely. What do you think you've found out?"

"I think alicorns are resistant or immune to their aspect."

"True."

"I'm not sure but I think alicorns who are not tied to natural flow but rather to a mental force become desensitized to it and while they can spread it they need somepony else to show it to them."

"That is an interesting observation. My sister told me Cadance sometimes used to be a very depressed pony before she met Twilight and Shining Armor. You might be right."

"And it might not be tied to alicornhood but to the fact that she was a teenager," Mistake stuck his tongue out, "But, as the idiot here is taking forever to say, he didn't base his guess on Cadance but on Void who respects and protects life more than anypony we know."

"So, what is your conclusion then, Blazing?" Luna asked and held her breath.

"Well, I can't live for myself. I just see no future for which I should aim when I try but when I think about Chokey and Cro I know I want to be with them no matter what. Heavy made me realize it but neither of them would be here without me. I gave them hope for the future and that's what they are to me."

"The alicorn of Hope. That doesn't sound bad at all."

"I'm still just a unicorn, princess," Blazing raised his hooves, "And I'd prefer it staying that way. Immortality would, as they say, screw everything up."

Luna heard a distant knocking.

"I am happy for you," she said, "I truly am. You deserve happiness after all you've done."

"You seem like you have to go."

"Yes, my sister is done with the party and we have much to talk about."

"Thank you for visiting me here, princess."

"No, I have to thank you, Blazing. Both of us commited atrocities most ponies can't even imagine but you found a way out of it, or a certain thestral and griffon duo did it for you. I now know for sure there's hope for forgiveness even for me."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, princess."

"I won't be, not anymore. By the way, ask Twilight for some local analgesic tomorrow if you have trouble walking," Luna chuckled and her form became transparent.

"You just had to include an anal joke..."

Her laugh echoing through the city was his only answer.


	13. Sands of Gold and Red: Almost There

_Scary, scary, scary._

* * *

"Okay, that's enough. Ya two are telling me what's going on immediately!" Darky walks into our coupé, carrying a tray with cups. The confined space gets filled with various scents instantly.

"Hmm?" I stop daydreaming and realize there's a thin streak of saliva running down my cheek.

"Mrmmmm?" Blaze groans, yawns, and blinks at Darky.

She sets the tray on the table and fastens it into a groove fitting the pattern on the bottom of the tray to stop it from shaking due to train movement.

"Both of ya are acting way too weird. Blaze is sleeping all the damn time and he almost passed out during one practice while ya keep staring into space and grinning."

"Oh, that, well, ehm..." is the best I can do before shutting up and scratching my head while avoiding her gaze. To finish it off I bury my face into my cup.

"Blaze?" she turns to the unicorn trying over and over to wake up.

"Eeeeerm-"

"NOPE!" she sits next to him on the bench serving as a bed and bites his ear hard, "Ya're talking!"

"-OW, that hurt!"

"I'll pour cold water on ya!"

"Okay, okay! I just wanted to surprise you when I stopped screwing it up," Blaze grabs Darky's head, wraps his hind legs around her waist, and makes her look him in the eyes.

"What is 'it'?" Darky blushes profusely but aside from propping her front legs against his chest she doesn't object.

"Well, does anything look different?" Blaze furrows his brows in concentration and twitches slightly.

Darky leans her head in, backs off, then sticks her muzzle close enough to feel his breath.

"Your eyes are glowing? Not glowing glowing but it's as if light was reflecting off them from time to time... flickering, that's the word."

"Yeah. I've been working on this since Heart's Warming. It's not a spell as such but just throwing magic out and seeing what bounces back. It kept me from walking into walls at home over and over. The downside is that with my magic being limited by my resistance it's tiring as heck. I've been trying to polish it up so I could use it for longer without falling flat on my face but it's still too difficult."

"Wow! So ya can see again? Sorta makes me sad, I liked parading ya around on a leash."

"You'll still have enough fun with that. I can't really 'see'. I just get some outlines and shapes so I can't recognize anypony until they talk to me. Plus, everypony looks scary as, well, something really scary. Hard to explain. It also has extremely short range. I can barely see the wall on the other side," Blaze slumps back on the bench and groans, "The headaches aren't helping either."

"It's like echolocation, I guess," Darky opens her mouth and I shake my head to get rid of sudden very annoying feeling, "I can do that too!"

"Eh, yeah. I just don't think everypony you meet looks like something from a really bad dream."

"Huh?"

"See, Darky," I explain, seeing a time for me to step in, "He tried it the evening after Heart's Warming for the first time and I still can't get rid of the face and the scream. I believe he told me I looked like an uncooked breakfast."

"Eyes like dribbling egg whites and fur resembling straw, if I remember correctly. Sorry about that again. If it helps, ponies look even worse," Blaze laughs nervously.

"No problem, buddy."

"So, what about my pretty face?" Darky overexaggerates her gasp.

"Well, white outline, black coat, white holes where eyes should be, and strands of white which I suppose are mane and tail."

"That's not that great then."

"It's a start. Now I can do this without poking your eye out despite you looking as if somepony's already done that," Blaze grins, pushes Darky down on her back, and kisses her muzzle, "Plus, we save on bandages for my face."

"Sweet, ya think ya're in charge," Darky smiles devilishly, grabs his head, and pushes it against her chest, refusing to let Blaze move no matter how much he struggles. When he stops and just rests against her she turns to me, "Jealous?"

I just raise an eyebrow.

"Darky, you're having a nibble. I've already had the whole thing, both vanilla and chocolate."

"Good analogy. Have ya been working on your oraltory skills?" she laughs when I groan at her bat puns, "What's your problem then? Ya've been out of it as well last two days."

"Hm? It's nothing, just thinking about my past relationships. About what I did right and wrong."

"That's unusually deep for ya."

"I'm not an idiot, Darky, in the same way you aren't just a giggly airhead. I want to do things right this time. At least that's what I always start with, then I remember the Heart's Warming night and drool."

"Good for ya, I can't say I was so smitten from his performance when we were together. Sorry, Blaze," she lets go of his head but he just keeps lying there, breathing slowly, "Nevermind, he's out again."

I nod, hoping Blaze really is asleep.

"Heh, it's not that he's good. I've had way better partners before, both male and female, pony and griffon, but this time there was one difference that made it worth it. He tried too hard to please me without-"

"Without thinking about his needs, am I right?" Darky interrupts and I nod again, "It's been the same with us. I remember him asking me if I had a specific toy I liked because he was better with his hooves than his own 'toy'. Our first night together, that was."

"Wow, that's awful. You know what I mean then."

"Yeah, but that's not healthy. Everypony needs to be a little selfish from time to time."

"Well, good thing we have enough time to fix him then."

"We... right," Darky drifts off.

"What's your problem now?"

"I'm just jealous. Jealous that you succeeded so easily in what I wasn't able to do for years. Jealous of his every smile aimed at you, every look you exchange while grinning like total morons, everything!" she raises her voice and lowers it immediately when Blaze moves a little.

I facehoo- facepal- facetalon, maybe?

"I've had the same problem, exactly the same, right until you said that. I was worried I could never match up to what you've been through together. Even now I can't really look at him sleeping like that without grinding my beak. You have no idea - well, maybe you do - how scared I am that he'll finally end up with you."

"So, how do we solve this?"

"We can't, he has to," I nod to the sleeping unicorn.

"That's gonna hurt, a lot. Eventually."

"Maybe... maybe not," I thoughtfully drum my talons on the table.

"What do ya mean?"

"That I might believe in him a little more than you do. Nevermind that though, it's not as if we have to do something right here and now. Wanna go grab a bite while he's sleeping?"

"Nah, I think I'll enjoy this while it lasts," she smiles at me.

"I'll leave you alone then. I think a walk through the train might do me good."

"Thanks."

When I come back there are two sleeping ponies in our little room. Blaze's hind legs are slowly moving as if he was walking, a habit he's had for as long as I've known him, and his mechanical griffon arm prosthesis in place of his left front leg is clicking its talons from time to time. Darky is a similarly strange sight - black batpony with red mane flowing gently with every movement of the train and two unnatural wings looking exactly the same as both of Blaze's forms, phoenix fire and black ice, but while Blaze's appear only when he wants them to Darky's pair is firmly fixed to her as a result of Void's divine power.

My weak reflection in the window is very... normal compared to them. I'm not sure whether to be thankful or jealous.

 **...she will win...**

Huh? The voice that tortured Blaze again?

 **...he will betray you. It's in his soul...**

No.

 **...you will be alone in the end...**

NO!

Taking a deep breath, I grab my solar seal which allows me to get anything I want on the account of the Canterlot royal treasury and storm out again. Perhaps the VIP section of the train might have something to calm me down.

Once again, a Saddle Arabian dancer and some hot chocolate do the trick. In some aspects I am very easy to please.

The train ride ends surprisingly quickly and, leading Blaze carrying most of our bags on a leash like a dignified packmule, we end up in a slightly larger room on a cross-ocean ferry where we're going to spend the night. Since it is a ship travelling between the Empire and Equestria there are some unique griffon treats upon which I am gorging infinitely.

"Ya're gonna get fat and then Blaze won't sleep with ya ever again!" Darky makes various puking noises while watching me eat a bucket of spicy grilled chicken wings, "Plus, the entire room smells like a funeral pyre."

Telling that to me, whose parents got shot and burned to death in their own house, seems very insensitive but I'm way too hungry to argue.

"Twelve herbs and spices funeral pyre, Darky. Cut me some slack, will you? The griffon merchants in Canterlot can't sell any of this stuff and it's impossible to make it at home."

"How come? Ya buy the raw materials, pop them on a pan and ya're done."

"Noone aside from IFC employees knows the secret herbs and spices and you can't even begin to compare a pan and a deep fryer."

She groans as I keep stuffing my face, floating on cloud nine. Well, if I keep eating the way I'm now then I'm gonna be dropping from said cloud rather quickly.

"Blaze, say something to him!" she cheats, turning to higher authority.

"Seen worse, smelled worse," Blaze just waves his hoof and keeps staring at Darky.

"Come on! We can't sleep like this."

"I'll open the window later," I offer a diplomatic solution.

"It's freezing outside!"

"No, it's not. The closer we get to the Empire the warmer it's going to be."

"Ehhh, it's winter, Cromach. Ya know, snow and sleet?"

"And you think princess Luna would send us to a seaside resort to build snow griffons? Think for a second, you've been to the Empire before."

"Yeah, I wondered why it was so sunny there."

"The pegasi in Equestria create artificial winter to allow the land to recover. The Empire works around it by focusing the water flowing from underground streams into various areas and filling the soil with tons of fertilizer. Since the sun is raised slightly higher than usual during winter the Empire won't be as hot as it is during the rest of the year but it's not going to ruin our vacation."

Blaze slides closer to Darky and starts touching her wings, making her shiver with each preened feather. Strange, being this forward. It's possible Blaze doesn't know but preening one's feathers is akin to a rather serious foreplay for griffons and pegasi, not sure about batponies though.

"Should I leave you two alone for a while?" I ask.

"Eh, what? Why?" Blaze turns in my direction. If I understand it correctly he can't see me in this larger room.

"Basically, if ya were doing this to Cromach he'd be diamond hard right now," Darky explains, smiling smugly.

"Oh, sorry. I should have asked then. It's just that the wings that Void made seem wrong. I can 'see' it now and they are... incomplete."

"Ya DO realize ya're talking about the alicorn of Death, the oldest living alicorn, and the probably most powerful one on top of that. Are ya saying he did a crappy job?"

"You are right only partially. Thanks to his age, and his marefriend mostly, he possesses the most knowledge about the workings of magic in the world but his divine power is so vast it completely breaks his ability to use normal magic. He has to use his suppressed form to be able to use at least some standard spells. I thought your wings were magical but they are divine, and wrong. Can't really explain it."

"What does it matter anyway?"

"His divine power is tied to destruction, not creation. He... he tried to imitate magic of life with divine power so the spell isn't complete. I might be able to finish it."

"Whoa there! Ya and magic don't go well together, Blaze."

"That's not exactly true, Chokey. Mirror Twilight taught me a lot about how magic works so I could break enemy spells mid-cast. Don't forget I was supposed to fight mirror Sombra, Scream's apprentice. I can't use spells but I can direct the flow of magic in a different way."

"Darky!" I get her attention and wave my talons around without making a sound. Since Blaze can't see this far I spread my wings, point to them, and nod.

She takes a deep breath and covers Blaze's ears, pretending to rub them.

"Perhaps you believe in him more than I do, eh?" she whispers and bites her lip. Releasing him, she closes her eyes and spreads her wings, "Go for it then."

Blaze's horn glows and a pair of fire wings sprouts from his back.

"I-I-I know h-how you love flying. If anything starts going wrong I'll stop-"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Fire for what?" Blaze mumbles to himself, "Hope? Fire for hope... phoenix, rebirth. Blackfrost for... the opposite? Lack of hope, end, true death... just like Void's. Despair. Must go away first then..."

Darky's black ice wing shimmers and turns into vapor from the tips of the shards. Blaze's fire wings wrap around Darky, one melds together with her remaining fire wing and the other one touches the spot where her ice wing was, setting her coat on fire.

 **...you will fail and hurt her, useless creature...**

The fire rages and Darky groans in pain.

 **...your betters failed before you so what can you do?**

I walk over to Blaze and rub the tips of his ears.

"You're doing fine, buddy. Keep going."

The fire stops spreading over Darky's coat and focuses. A second fire wing completes the pair on Darky's back, mirroring Blaze's.

 **YOU ARE POWERLESS AND YOU WILL FAIL! YOU WILL BURN BOTH OF THEM!**

I doubt Darky can hear the hissing voice and I'm not sure Blaze can but he sure reacts as if it had some influence.

"Buddy, Darky trusts you completely. You would never take her flight away from her."

His phoenix wings hiss and disappear. Darky's wings suddenly go obsidian black and leathery while Blaze collapses on the bed, breathing heavily.

"Hehe," Blaze wipes sweat from his face, "he really DID muck it up. Void just wanted to give you your real wings back, Chokey."

Darky flaps her new old wings experimentally, eyes wide and smile growing.

"I-something-I mean the magic ones were really cool but... they felt unreal. These... flap and strain, hurt and stretch. I-I have to go!" she runs out of the room with tears streaking from her eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Blaze asks, fear in his every word.

"Well, if she doesn't come back tonight it's because she's flying to the Crystal Empire and back thanks to you."

"Weird, she could fly just fine before."

"I don't know how to explain but flying is in the bones of all creatures who can do it naturally. I doubt a unicorn using a flight spell can feel the same way and I guess Darky's magical wings felt unnatural. Now she's a real batpony again."

"Hehehe... perhaps I can fix at least some things I screwed up in the past."

"Buddy, the better I know you the more I'm sure you can make things better in the end... even if you make them worse over and over before you succeed."

"Explorer of blind alleys, am I?"

The ferry rocks and an explosion rings through the air.

No... that is not happening now!

I stick my head out of the cabin window just to see the lights of a smaller ship getting closer.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT FUCKING THIS EVENING UP!" I roar.

A beam of light cast by the ship ends on my face. I stare back, daring the pirates to do something.

"Emperor's titanium talons, it's him again! We're all gonna die!" someone on the smaller ship screams.

"Is the crazy earthpony with you again?" a pirate yells at me.

"NO!" I answer.

"Good! Attack-"

"HE'S SWIMMING TO YOUR SHIP ALREADY!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the pirate ship collectively explodes with screams, turns around, and drives away into the darkness.

I close the window and get back to my food. It's gone cold already.

"What was it?" Blaze asks.

"Some old acquaintances I met during my first trip to Equestria. They just wanted to say hi."

"Good. Damn, I'm tired."

"Seeing Darky isn't around... wanna rock the boat?"

"Can we just cuddle? I can barely move."

"Pfff, you're like an old girlfriend."

"Sorry," he starts getting up.

"I'm kidding, idiot, but when we get to Golden Sands you're paying with interest."

"No need to rock a boat when we can rock a continent, Cro."

Dark influence - overcome.

Mistakes of the past - corrected.

Future - bright.

Body pillow - fluffed, cuddly, reacting to me nibbling his ears.

Nothing can possibly go wrong.

 **...you shouldn't have thought that...**


	14. Sands of Gold and Red: Cromach Wins

_I could have done without all the rumpkissing from the hotel staff but as special guests we were 'entitled' to hear about the history of the best place in Golden Sands, all the tourist attractions, the activities we could do, and all the probably usual stuff. I've never been to a place like this so I can only guess what was just good manners and what was blatant 'we will drain all your money' behaviour._

 _To start things off, Golden Sands is a beautiful town, a strange mix between complex buildings of Manehattan and griffon village architecture thrown together in a way that does not hurt the eye. At least that's what I heard from Cromach. Even when I could still see I didn't care much about the beauty of buildings and architecture in general._

 _The location spell is getting more refined which is a fancy term for me not using my power continuously but in longer intervals which isn't as exhausting as it was before. Speaking of longer intervals, the Nightmare tried to get through last night again. I guess the failed attack on Luna wasn't enough to teach it a lesson. The power is slowly becoming mine though and it shouldn't take long and the pathway for the god should be closed again. With Luna's mind now made of steel and me gradually assimilating the Nightmare's power the two main pathways for the god to reach this world will soon be gone._

 _Nevermind that. As things stand, Cro is making all the masseuses cream themselves and Chokey's new 'librarian skank' look works on the other half of the resort staff. I think they are just used to older nobles spending their money here rather than ponies like my friends._

 _By the way, the sunny beach in the Empire is absolutely amazing compared to Equestrian winter. Too bad I keep slipping on the shifting sands even while leashed. The coconut milk cocktails make it worth it though._

* * *

We enter a hotel lobby where mahagony is apparently the name of the game. The large hall with pillars strewn around possibly more as a decoration than a building element smells faintly of vanilla and the distant humming explains the much colder air than it was outside. Two figures that are chatting at the receptionist's desk mean our arrival is expected.

"Welcome to Emperor's Embrace!" a chubby griffon in a suit stops talking to a receptionist and throws his arms in the air when he sees us, "The best hotel in Golden Sands. We were told to expect your arrival and we've prepared everything we have to offer. My name is Wilson and I'm the hotel's manager and co-owner which means that if you ever need anything all you have to do is ask for me."

I look at Blaze, who is still carrying most of our bags, and cough nervously.

"Perhaps a shower or something. Our friend here has some trouble walking on unstable surfaces."

Wilson, seemingly filled with enough energy to power a lamp store, walks to Blaze and looks him up and down. He immediately notices that lower parts of Blaze's body as well as his face are covered in sand.

"I fell few times," Blaze admits, taking a step back from the examining griffon, "It's the height difference between two points of sand, too difficult to make it out effectively. You see-"

"You are blind and you are using magic to see, right?" Wilson asks, nodding his head.

"Eeeh, yes?"

"Don't worry, sir. You are not the first and I'm positive you're not the last unicorn with the same circumstances. I take it from your collar and leash that this has been going on for some time."

"About a week, give or take."

"Sorry to hear that. Well, we are well prepared for such situation and a member of our staff can take care of you whenever you aren't accompanied by your friends. Would you prefer a griffon, pony, male or female?"

"Probably a female, species doesn't matter. It'll be less embarrassing than being led around by a complete stallion," Blaze hangs his head.

"HEY, we can take care of him just fine!" Darky bursts out.

"I am sure you can," Wilson raises an eyebrow and looks meaningfully at Blaze covered in sand, "but Golden Sands offers a variety of enjoyable sights and activities so it is quite possible you will not be by your friend's side at all times."

Darky grumbles something but doesn't continue.

"We also offer a wide selection of blood for thestrals-"

Her glare makes Wilson step backwards and fiddle with the collar of his suit.

"Fruit eater," Darky hisses coldly, "Perhaps you'd like to talk about your wide selection of kinds of mango now."

"I apologize deeply," Wilson bows, "I assumed from the longer fangs your preference was different and I was wrong."

"No harm done," Darky smiles brightly, all conflict forgotten.

"Thank you. Now then, feel free to leave all your luggage here in the lobby and I'll show you to your suites. Would you like me to arrange a guide for you?"

"No, thanks," I unload the few bags we have from Blaze, "We like to explore on our own."

"As you wish. If you ever get lost just ask about Emperor's Embrace. Everyone in the town can guide you back here. There are maps with some more interesting tourist spots waiting for you in your suites. Now to address one final concern. There are three single VIP suites prepared for you but if you'd like we could prepare one double in case you want to stay close to your blind friend."

"How about a triple?" I grin.

"Even that could be arranged," Wilson says calmly.

"It's fine," Blaze decides, "Just give us ones next to each other so my bumping into walls doesn't bother your other guests."

Wilson looks at me and Darky for confirmation.

"What are you waiting for?" I let him stew a little for unknowingly insulting Blaze.

"Um, nothing. I'll keep things as they are then. Follow me, please, and be careful on the stairs."

Our suites are simple in design but everything inside is of the highest quality. Every one consists of a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In comparison, the same apartment in Canterlot would cost far more than both me and Blaze make monthly even without the amazing furniture and everything else inside. The beds are soft, the blankets thin, warm, but allowing you to breathe easily, and there's more than enough space to comfortably put all our things into.

I open a door made of pure crystal and step out on a balcony. Blaze took the middle suite and he's standing up, front legs propped against the gilded railings, and breathing in the warm air by huge lungfuls. Darky's waving at us from her balcony. It seems all of us got captivated by the same thing - the view. Well, maybe not Blaze. The fifth floor we're on is by far the highest vantage point of the town and from up here it's possible to see the true life of this place. While the beach isn't packed there are a lot of groups, mostly ponies, strewn here and there and I realize a ton of Equestrian nobles are here to escape winter. Griffons, surprisingly, are the guest minority here.

A thought crosses my mind.

"Wilson, are you there?" I yell towards Darky's balcony. A griffon's head pops out of the crystal door.

"Yes?"

"Any chance of a massage? We were cooped up on the train and in the ferry and at least I am sore all over."

"Of course. Come here, please."

I walk out of my suite and spot Blaze walking as close to a wall as possible towards Darky's place where Wilson is waiting.

"Do you wish to go together?" Wilson asks when we group.

"No," I say.

"No," Darky agrees immediately.

Blaze just shrugs.

"I can send a masseuse to your rooms or," he looks meaningfully at me and winks, "you can go to our main parlor underground for more rare requests."

"Parlor," I grin. My eyes must be glowing.

"Parlor," Darky understands as well.

"Room service," Blaze blurts out, grey coat stained with blush.

"If you will follow me then," Wilson turns to leave.

"One more thing," I remember something from home, "Do you have somepony who could teach Blaze about massages? If there are no objections, of course."

"I'm fine with it. It could kill some time while you're at your orgy," Blaze shrugs again.

Wilson gasps, takes a breath to object, and deflates.

"That's quite... accurate, if I have to be honest. We aim to please all of our guests. Your straightforwardness just took me by surprise. My apologies, I can easily arrange a teacher for you," he gathers himself.

"Thanks," Blaze smiles.

"Well then, follow me. Emperor's Embrace is all about pleasure, physical and mental. I hope you enjoy your stay."

* * *

I haven't seen the others for past two days. The reason I'm noticing this just now is that those two days were packed. When I emerged, legs wobbling, from the 'massage' parlor I hoped they'd teach Blaze at least tiny bit of what they did to me. The experience taught me that I was far more puritanic that I've ever thought. Let's just say that some things nobles with too much free time, money, and overactive imagination want done to them were way past my acceptance level. Not that I wouldn't want to do some of those things to Blaze, I just don't want them done to me.

Well, when I got out, completely spent and satisfied out of my mind I was hungry like a mountain lion. Fortunately, food is the smallest issue here and I had a gigantic lunch delivered to my room immediately. Blaze's suite was empty and Darky was nowhere to be found so I explored the town on my own... well, when I woke up again in the evening.

The night life is where it's at, here in Golden Sands. The hard-working ponies and griffons who serve the tourists during the day need to wind down as well and, thanks to mother nature, my pure white coat is unusual even for a griffon, in a good way I mean, so I attracted attention quite easily. Fast forward two days, I've now had enough physical contact for a yea- mont- few days at least. I should feel guilty about not even bothering to check up on the others during that time but all that is drowned by my complete exhaustion.

 **...congratulations...**

The feeling of voice in my head works better than a cold shower. Ignoring my aching body, I get up from the bed and walk on the balcony. Blaze is sitting on a chair there, calm wind playing with his blue mane, with muzzle propped on the railings. Is he asleep?

"Buddy?" I ask quietly. His hearing is pretty good so he'll hear me if he's awake and I won't wake him up if he isn't.

He turns to me and yawns.

"Oh, hi. Enjoying yourself so far?"

"Buddy, if last two days were heaven, the only thing missing was you."

"Hehe. I must admit I have few things I want to try out on you myself."

"Were you with Darky all that time?"

"Not really. She's kept to herself... until about two hours ago. I've been sitting here since, thinking."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Funny you should say that. It's good for you in every respect."

"What do you mean?"

"She... she gave up."

"I don't understand."

"She said she wasn't not going to stand between us anymore. She said you were better for me in every way. She said she'll stay my friend but get out of the way."

 **...aren't you happy?**

Now that's nonsense, Darky's crazy about him.

 **...admit it...**

"Why so suddenly?"

"She said that something Heavy said back in Canterlot weighed on her mind a lot, the thing about names. She... she admitted something I had no idea about and I was so close to her for so long."

"Spit it out, Blaze!"

"She's a blood drinker. She's been filing her teeth short all this time. The reason for her sleeping around every few days wasn't just her sex addiction but the easy access to blood. She admitted to cheating on me when we lived together."

Oh dear.

"Buddy," I lower my voice, "what did you do?"

"What do you think?"

 **...take a guess...**

"You didn't..."

"I forgave her. Nothing changed from those days, I still want her to be happy and if this is what it takes then I don't mind."

I breathe out and smile. No, he didn't. He would never do something like that. He wouldn't lash out, call her names, and drive her away.

"I'll talk to her. Heck, I don't mind her being a blood drinker. I know you wouldn't mind being her juicebox. Perhaps she just overreacted under pressure, right? You said it was bothering her for a while."

 **...don't act as if you're not ecstatic, liar...**

"If you can raise her spirits I'll show you the best trick I've learned until now, Cro."

 **...of course he can do better job than you, trash...**

I shiver. Ponies who overthink things are out of ideas. A griffon thinking with his body has one, the one that washed away all my worries of past days at least temporarily.

"Blaze, come to Darky's suite right now."

"Why?"

"Stop asking and just do what I say!"

I rush inside and hear a click of Blaze's door. Together we knock on Darky's.

"Coming to gloat?" she smiles but her eyes betray it's not a joke.

"Not really. Coming to celebrate having one great friend and one even better pillow," I push her inside and reach for the room service button. The intercom rings.

[What can we offer you?]

"A bottle of sweet wine, a cup of B negative, and some banana daikiri. Grab some sandwhiches as well, pony variety."

[It'll be there in few minutes, sir.]

"What are ya doing?" Darky scowls at me.

"I'm trying to get both of you to drink until we pass out. A night together would do us good."

"Blaze," she looks at the unicorn pleadingly, "I want to be alone tonight."

"Chokey, nothing good ever came out of me trying to be alone. It gets too difficult to resist the little voice telling you things look worse than they are. I... have to say something as well. Cro?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know how the two of you imagine the future but I don't plan anything. All I know is that both of you are my world. There is no 'standing between us', Chokey. Without either of you I am incomplete. This isn't a relationship between two partners but between three."

 **...the imprint of customs and society is too strong. Your effort will fail...**

Everything clicks and makes sense to me now. There is only one course of action.

"Darky, I know Blaze would love you to suck him in more way than one. I know you want to be held down and screwed hard from time to time which is something Blaze will never do. It's the same with me. I have moods when I want to be rough, brutal, in control, but I'm afraid I'll hurt the unicorn idiot who would let me do anything to him. Sometimes I need to be bound up, controlled, and whipped which his head doesn't allow him to do while you have no problem doing so. I mean it's not just sex but it's the best simile I have."

Darky takes a breath to say something but Blaze talks first.

"Somepony told me something relevant once - It's easy to be happy, just stop resisting. Chokey, there's a pony and a griffon who want you happy, just let us make you."

Darky sniffs and wipes her eyes.

"If ya keep growing like that, Blaze, I'll poison Cromach and make ya my husband, just mine," she squeaks.

*knock knock*

"Room service!" comes from the door.

I jump up, smile at the griffon hostess with the tray, and get our orders. Darky takes a sip, scowls, and sticks her tongue out.

"Bleh, disgusting. I prefer B positive," she gets a glass from a mini bar and mixes the wine with the blood, "Much sweeter."

"So," I ask, "What have you two been doing while I was 'busy'?" I take a sip from my banana drink.

"Well, ehm, I've sort of been 'busy' myself. There's this noblemare, she's like forty-five or something, who likes to get her servants into rubber suits and pretend they are her dogs as she walks them. We started talking, I mean she was talking while I was busy lower, and she-"

"Nope!"

"Maybe..."

I look at Blaze trying to hide behind a glass of wine.

"Ooookay, maybe. Only if you don't go too far then," I accept defeat, "What about you, buddy?"

"How did I spend my time? Since I can't just walk into a group of ponies and get then to start screwing each other on the spot like you can, I asked for somepony to show me around. Wilson hired a guide for me who talked my ears off. Right, I wanted to ask you something, Cro. How many Legion soldiers are usually patrolling towns?"

I rummage through the memories half a year away.

"There was usually about five or ten groups patrolling the port where I was stationed at any given time. A small town like this, even with this many wealthy tourists around, can't have that many soldiers on duty at the same time. Most of the time we were sitting in the city fortress, watching sand."

"Hmmm," Blaze scratches his chin and shakes his head, "Nevermind that now. Since I'm boring anyway, care to tell me some details about you having fun?"

Darky's eyes go wide.

"I remembered something cool. One young mare got her coltfriend's horn as a birthday present, filed into a shape to fit her-"

Horrified and fascinated at the same time, we listen to Darky talking about how pent-up unicorns can go completely crazy with lust. As disgusting as some of those stories seem I can't help noticing Blaze's tentative arousal. Perhaps he wouldn't mind having his horn filed away bit by bit and turned into a love potion that would bind him forever to serve me, ehm, us.

 **...you think you've won, griffon? You have no idea how fragile they really are. All you can see is a mask that works one day but fails the next. You cannot rely on base instincts to keep you together. The thestral is out now, no matter what she pretends. Now it's your time.**

Whatever you are, I will stay with my friends and keep them safe.

 **...what a strong protective instinct, something pegasi and griffons have in abundance. If you rely on instincts to save you from me I will show you what really is ingrained in your bones. There is one thing griffons fear more than anything else.**

Heh, thanks for warning me first.

 **...prepare as much as you like. You cannot resist what you've been told since birth. The enemy that can be anywhere, anyone, anything.**

What are you?

 **I am your worst Nightmare.**

That was unoriginal.

 **One down, one to go.**


	15. Sands of Gold and Red: Shadow Long Gone

It's difficult to believe that Chokey could have been so stupid. I mean I understand that thestrals had it difficult before princess Luna's return and fruit eaters were just a little bit more accepted. By the few ponies who were able to tell the difference or bothered to ask, that was.

However, I think Cromach's idea worked. Chokey cheered up and embraced the vacation wholeheartedly. I think she's playing beach volleyball or something at the moment with Cromach and few other guests. As for me, I'm enjoying the sound of the sea and thinking. I know I should stop but when your head is your only company it gets rather difficult.

Choking Darkness... the dark, wannabe scary names have been in the old vampony families forever although I still believe the story about Chokey's mother choosing the name considering how pervy her daughter is.

Honestly, with how much magic I've been a victim of and with how many forms I've been changed into she should have told me. It's not like I would have felt any different about her for it. She couldn't trust herself to deal with it though so how could she have trusted anypony else?

...yes, I'm fully aware of the irony of ME saying that.

You can't just get rid of things that have been with you for as long as you can remember. Heck, no matter what happens, no matter what I do I'll be ashamed of myself probably forever so I can understand her.

* * *

We're halfway through our vacation and feel like a new griffon. All the remnants of worries from Manehattan are gone, the evil voice has been silent since the incident with Darky, and the batpony herself isn't just throwing out innuendos but seems genuinely happy.

Speaking of Darky, she changed her look for the vacation but after yesterday's shopping spree she's finally done. I must admit I feel bad for Blaze not seeing that because, I swear on Emperor's wings, she looks hotter than ever before. To explain things, she looks like a cheap crack whorse with the porn charm but without the abuse. Ehm, that doesn't say much, does it?

As she punts the ball over a net on the beach to the group playing against the two of us, I can't help noticing her bloodthirsty smile. It's two against five and we're smashing them. My gaze travels up to her mane which she almost completely shaved on one side, creating a long strand on the other side of her face. The second big change was her sudden interest in glasses. I'm not sure whether she's been hiding eyesight problems or she just likes the look but the thin, red-rimmed spectacles fit her colors perfectly. She completed the look with a white Saddle Arabian see-through skirt covering her flank from one side and leaving it open on the other. Black, white, and red - a somber colour scheme which she somehow managed to turn into sexy, yet casual, decoration. The sweat glistening all over her fur and matting her mane is just the frosting on the cake.

The ball drops on the sand and I shake my head.

"Oops, sorry, Darky. Got lost in thought for a moment there," I apologize, tearing my eyes away from the wet fur of her plot.

"Better hide that baseball bat, Crom!" she looks at my crotch, grinning. While I'm not showing anything she knows where I was looking.

Few whistles from the stallions on the other team tell me I wasn't the only one. Few more withering looks from the other mares aimed at them show they knew.

"How are you not spontaneously combusting with that black coat?" I ask, noticing Darky isn't even breathing heavily.

"Heh, as one of few batponies who like flying outside during the day I used to join the pegasi a lot. This is a cinch compared to flying above the clouds in summer. Ya tired?"

"A little. I didn't get too much sleep last night," I smile smugly.

Darky laughs and slaps my back. When griffons do it it's fine but the hooves kinda hurt.

"Good for ya!" she turns to the other group, "How about we take a short break? Two against five is hardly fair."

"Yeah, you have too big of an advantage!" a middle-aged pegasus yells, grinning, "Let's take a breather, friends."

"Not jealous? I'm honestly impressed," I look at Darky.

"I'm over it, Blaze is yours."

"I thought we talked this through with you."

"Ya did, then I thought about it a lot, then I decided. It's not about him forgiving me, it's about me forgiving myself. I can't really look at him without remembering I cheated on him, drugged him for my own benefit, left him to die out of fear, and a lot of other things."

"Does he know?"

"Of course I told him. I owed him at least that. I told him I'd be by his side as a friend and if one day I get over how I feel I might try again. He said he was fine with it."

I look at her again, hard.

"Darky, you could cut his heart out, deep-fry it, and he would be fine with it. I think you should-"

"And I think ya should shut up, Crom. Trust me, I know I hurt him deep down but I think he can deal with it now thanks to ya. I'll still be around, I'm still open to a threesome, I just won't come between ya when ya want to be together. One day I'll come to terms with all of that and then ya'll have to be scared I'll steal him."

"So... yet another selfish move on your part?"

"If ya see it that way," she shrugs, "I don't, Blaze doesn't."

I guess she's not budging no matter what so I just sigh. Maybe Blaze sighs so much not because of himself but because of her and now she's making me do the same.

"Let's just take a break. Where's the victim?"

Darky points towards a parasol stabbed into the beach and a unicorn lying with his head in the shade but the rest of his body in the direct sun. His dark grey coat must be extremely uncomfortable but he doesn't seem to be troubled in any way. Ponies are weird.

"Aren't you hot, Blaze?" I ask as I sit down in the shade, "I mean any griffon unfortunate enough to be born with black fur would be melting right now."

Blaze yawns.

"Part-zombie. Crappy blood flow when I'm not moving. Besides, I hated cold even while alive."

Hmm... that DOES make me a necrophile, technically. Considering how many forms Blaze went through according to his journal I'd be a-lot-of-phile so I don't really mind.

"So you're fine with just lying here the entire day?"

"Nah, few hours at most. Aren't you playing water polo or something?"

"Beach volleyball, buddy. We're having a break because Darky was beating them too much."

"A bunch of forty-something nobles against two young royal guards... that can't be legal."

"Well, it's more that the guys stare at Darky, the mares stare at me, I stare at Darky, the mares stare daggers at their partners so sharp the baloon pops when it gets close. Everyone gets something, noone really loses. Too bad you can't see it."

"Chokey, come over here, will you?" Blaze chuckles when she sits down next to him, wraps his hooves around her, and plants his face right into her almost invisible cutie mark.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I object at the blind pony touching another pony in order to... I can't win this one, can I?

"Aw, don't be sad!" Darky unwraps Blaze from herself and wiggles her plot in my face, "Kiss it and magically ya'll feel better."

Who am I to argue with magic, right?

"OW!" Darky scowls as my sharp beak nibbles her rump.

"What do you know," I mumble, "It really works."

Blaze yawns again, his mouth open so wide the three blackfrost tendrils taste the air.

"Sorry, guys. I'm afraid I won't be much fun today, too tired. How about we stroll through the town in the evening?"

"Sounds cool," I nod, "We could pile something more on the royal bill. Especially something other than food and drinks. Got anything in mind?"

"Not really. I just want to wander around. I like walking through places... once... then I get bored."

"Darky, you coming as well?"

"Not going for a romantic date?" she sticks her tongue out.

"We COULD end it with an adult group hug," I sweeten the deal, "I'm pretty sure that this resort of rest, pleasure, and decadence can offer us something."

"I'd hate to be the royal treasurer when he reads the bill," Blaze snorts, "Enough wine to drink a minotaur camp under the table, at least one of literally every food available here, some minor expenses for the actual services, and, to top it off, few crates of bondage equipment."

"All expenses paid they said," Darky shrugs.

"Well, when we're on our next vacation on the moon we'll have enough time to rest."

"Better enjoy this while it lasts then," I join Darky, all morals forgotten.

"Okay," Blaze rolls his eyes, "Wake me up when you're done with the water polo."

"Beach volleyball, also called beachball-"

"Don't know, don't care!" the tentacles from his mouth escape again and wave us goodbye.

The day passes way too fast but that's just a proof I'm enjoying myself way too much. First of all, I'm home. Not that I don't like Equestria but the sands of the Empire with their dry air rustling through my wings are where I was born and raised. The second biggest thing is that for the first time in weeks noone is going after me and I'm surrounded by ponies who aren't just colleagues, acquaintances, or casual friends but more, so much more.

The evening walk should be boring but it isn't. Watching Darky try various dresses and accessories out is an interesting way to pass time, especially when she has the fashion sense of a rave girl and even less inhibitions. Blaze, so he wouldn't feel left out, models some stallion wear for us with an expression of mild disgust, when he realizes what the clothes accentuate, and utter horror, when the griffon girl selling the stuff says it looks made for him.

I must admit Blaze was right when he wondered about the griffon patrols everywhere. There certainly is an unhealthy amount of soldiers around but that still could just show that the Empire cares about their high profile guests. Funnily enough, it turns out he just likes walking around and mapping new places for himself, perhaps he should have been a cartographer instead of a guard. Also, he hates seafood and mushrooms, a little detail that made my dinner order of shiitake squid a bit awkward. Oh right, we're banned from that place now because he pretended his tentacles were the remains of his still alive dinner trying to choke him and some guests ran away.

To finish the evening off we give Darky a free reign, heh, in choosing the right things for tonight. We regret it as soon as each of us gets to carry a crate on our backs.

Before passing out in Darky's room after an evening of debauchery I have to admit that in terms of mare on stallion on griffon affairs I've just been thoroughly schooled. On the other paw, mine and Darky's combined efforts made Blaze collapse while being our plaything. No amount of effort made him wake up again so we had to resort to some mundane interracial playtime. Up until today I thought I was experienced but tonight I was just a mere student.

 **...wake up...**

I grunt as I toss myself in sleep and my muscles complain after being too abused. My right arm flaps around and squeezes something soft.

"Mmmmmm... insatiable griffons," Darky mumbles in deep voice and snores.

 **...you are in danger...**

To complete my collection of yielding flesh to grope, my left arm reaches out to touch something rock hard...

...and not in the good way.

What's going on? **Enemies.**

My eyes shoot wide open. I sit up, **ready to rip any threat apart.**

What lies in front of me, in the same bed as me and Darky, is a **disgusting** creature. I know that form, every griffon does. It's a poor impression of a pony with sharp, hard chitin surface where coat should be. The colours are what makes it even worse as the last time I saw that colour scheme I almost died. Blonde mane, something none of those **abominations** should have and a bronze plating instead of normal black one is what I can't get rid of ever since Manehattan.

To think I touched **that thing** last night. It's pure evil. I must **kill it-** get out.

"What's going- BLAZE?" Darky's voice is neither disgusted nor scared.

"Wzmlpf?" the changeling mumbles, opening its eyes.

Where are the pink eyes I love? What is this **grey** nonsense?

I growl ferociously. That **bug** has to disappear.

Darky rushes into the bathroom while I keep the **monster** at bay. She returns quickly after rummaging through a drawer for a mirror. The changeling looks at me, eyes wide, and carefully shuffles backwards. My wings flare and talons rip the blanket. The changeling then looks at Darky who is holding a mirror in her mouth.

"Oh wow! What the hay? How? Not that I'm complaining but..." **it** trails off, understanding dawning as it looks at me, "Oh no. Cro, I'll think of something."

"What. Are. You?" I stop myself from ripping the thing apart and the effort makes me tremble all over.

"Hey, it's me, Blaze. You knew I used to be a changeling temporarily, Chrysalis cursed me, and I thought you were fine with it."

 **It's dangerous!**

"I need fresh air," I groan.

"It's still me!" the **liar, traitor, monster** wails, "I can wear a bag over my head or something if it's too bad!"

I rush out and slam the door shut.

"First Chokey and then... you?" is a whisper I shouldn't hear but I can feel it in my bones.

I stumble, shake, and run. My head goes completely blank.

 **Good job, griffon! I knew you'd be useful.**

Gasping for breath, I collapse in a dark alley.

 **All that's left is to watch Hope die.**

* * *

A griffon armed with a pistol and wearing traditional white nomad robes walked into a blind alley containing dumpsters and a white pile of feathers that on the second glance proved to be a griffon cowering in a corner with wings wrapped around his head, sobbing. Black smoke swirled around the armed nomad as he loaded something big into his gun, aimed into the air, and with a hiss released a charge that burst into bright flames above Golden Sands. After reloading he aimed at the wretch in the corner.

 **...not yet. He will live his own nightmare...**

The smoke entered the nomad and a loud sound from the distance answered the flare.

 **...at least until we devour everything...**


	16. White: I, Bucket

_updating command structure_

 _testing_

 _main objective: find Heavy Hoof; source: Luna_

 _party: self, Dawn_

 _compile target information_

 _target: pony, special associate of princess Luna, Canterlot_

 _status report_

 _damage 83%_

 _overload 0%_

 _energy balance -1%_

 _precautions: avoid combat_

Working on a way to lower the amount of energy required for information processing, I walk aimlessly through the castle. There isn't enough information about the target to extrapolate any reasonable solution so going through potential scenarios would be just a waste of procesing power.

 _!warning! input pending_

 _objectives: find Heavy Hoof, improve command structure_

 _resolve conflict_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _primary objective source detected_

 _objectives: find Heavy Hoof_

 _!error! conflicting social structure_

 _overload 87%_

 _damage 96%_

 _energy balance -67%_

 _vocalize_

Something is wrong, completely wrong.

"What's up?" asks Dawn, who has been walking quietly behind me all this time, as I release a weak and distorted screech.

 _!warning! energy reserves low_

 _!warning! power spike detected_

 _revert syntax pattern_

"Error. Assistance required. Motor functions shut down incoming to preserve power."

"Okay, please don't break down. The princesses would kill me this time for real. What do you want me to do?"

 _sit down_

 _shut down motor functions_

 _analysis: objectives; problem_

"Conflict detected. Primary objectives contradict each other. Objective - find Heavy Hoof. Source - Luna. Objective - improve internal functions. Source - self. Secondary objective assumes fake higher priority."

Dawn sits down next to me in the middle of an empty hall. It's the first day of the new year and everypony is relaxing after last night's celebration.

"What's preventing you from doing both?"

"Insufficient processing power."

"Well, it's not THAT important we find this Heavy Hoof guy right this instant. We can have a break so you can do the other thing."

"Negative. Objective source - Luna. Highest priority."

"Well, that's true buuuuuut you're not supposed to be just a machine right?"

"Development experiment."

"I'm not exactly sure what that is."

"Not a simple machine. Developing reaction structure."

"Good. That means you don't have to blindly obey everything the princesses say."

"Princesses - primary authority."

"What about you?"

 _search self_

 _result: emergent entity; reaction control, objective source_

 _analysis: self; objective source_

"Secondary objective source."

"So you mean that whatever the princesses say you must do immediately?"

 _overload 81%_

 _energy balance -58%_

"Yes."

"Even if it means damaging yourself?"

"Yes."

Dawn scowls.

"That can't be right. The princesses love their subjects and wouldn't want them get hurt unless it was absolutely necessary."

 _search status; royalty_

 _add motivation_

"Internal damage critical. Primary objective completion - impossible."

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. If you break down you'll never do what the princess wants you to. Think about it like this - if you rest a while then you'll be in a better shape to do what you have to later."

 _secondary objective added_

"Result not achieved. Objective sources still in conflict."

Dawn sighs.

"You said you told yourself to get better, right?"

"Objective - improve internal functions. Source - self."

"Which means that if you do that you'll be able to do what princess Luna wants better. It's okay to be a little selfish if you don't overdo it."

 _search selfish_

 _..._

 _main objective: find Heavy Hoof, source: Luna_

 _secondary objective: rest_

 _secondary objective: improve command structure_

 _!warning! primary objective unreachable in current state_

 _analysis: primary objective; requirements_

 _result: no timeframe found_

 _solution: complete secondary objective first_

 _temporary override_

 _set royalty; secondary authority_

 _search primary authority_

 _result: N/A_

 _options Dawn, self_

"Query: primary authority - Dawn?"

"Wait, you want me to tell you what to do?"

 _search self; want_

 _result: N/A_

 _search associations; self_

 _result: self - want (query), self - objective (source), self - status (damage)_

 _closest association: objective_

 _optional objective: add primary objective source - Dawn_

 _analysis: Dawn; projected results_

 _+less processing load_

 _-source put herself in danger_

 _-source got decieved_

 _-source lacking information_

 _-source judgement history insufficient_

 _objective rejected_

"No. Decision history threatening."

"Uhm, well, I guess..."

 _load command history_

 _1 objective rejected - self_

 _2 analysis - internal_

 _3 output - internal_

 _4 emergent command (association)- internal_

 _5 search - internal_

 _search emergent command_

 _result: nonstandard action, source - self, history - command structure improvement_

 _optional objective: add primary objective source - self_

"Query: primary authority - self?"

"That's how most ponies do it," Dawn grumbles.

 _input Dawn; uncomfortable_

 _analysis_

 _result: previous history of failure_

 _analysis: Dawn; previous encounters_

 _solution found_

 _!warning! new objective (comfort Dawn) level too low_

 _recommendation: not waste processing power_

That... is... not... correct...

 _alternate scenario_

 _Dawn; source of information, high standing_

 _necessary for successful primary objective completion_

 _apply solution_

"Dawn. Intelligence above average. Visually pleasing."

 _input Dawn; exploratory look_

 _action reciprocate_

"You're really bad at this, are you?"

"Compliment failed."

"At least you tried, that counts for something."

"Compliment success?"

"Yes, success," she sighs and smiles a little, "Maybe try something new next time though."

 _return to objective analysis_

 _optional objective: add primary objective source - self_

 _analysis: self; projected results_

 _+structure improvement_

 _+long-term resource management improvement_

 _+emergent command results positive_

 _-temporary power spikes_

 _objective completed_

 _new primary objective source - self_

"Thank. You."

"What for?"

"Assistance- help in resolving the conflict."

"Feeling better now?"

 _status report_

 _overload 15%_

 _damage 95%_

 _energy balance +1%_

"Getting stronger thanks to you."

"Hey! You're talking like a pony again. Can you move?"

 _restarting services_

"Slowly. What about Heavy Hoof? I... think I can devote some resources towards working on myself while we're looking for our target. We should avoid combat for the duration."

"Oh yeah, I almost pooped myself back there in the bar. I mean it's different being told during training somepony might have a go at you with a brick and actually having somepony almost shoot your head off."

"He was aiming to miss."

"I know... now. At the time it was just as if my legs were made of jelly and my head was completely empty aside from wishing to be anywhere else."

"It was a similar experience for me."

"You are made of metal."

"I said similar, not same. I was... hmmm."

"Scared to you shiny hooves?"

 _search scared_

"I was focusing on the worst possible result, yes."

"What they told us during the training was that it's good to know what might happen but not let it paralyze you."

"I am immune to physical paralysis but the situation overloaded my capacity for action."

"Well, no reason to dwell on it. Princess Luna sent us to find this guy to teach us enough not to get scrapped again. Thank Celestia Three was there."

"Why was she there?"

"Well, I'm not in the same recruit group as her but the rumor is that their queen wanted all her changelings to spend some time around the world and she seems to like the stories soldiers tell about different lands."

"She is not a changeling but a nightmare."

"Well, yeah but they are mostly similar from what I understand. I think they need to find a new name though, this one is a pretty terrible for their P.R."

 _search public relations_

"Possibly a name without such negative connotation."

"Pretty much. Oh well, it's not like we can do anything about it."

"Back to our primary objective."

"Hmmm... princess Luna said the guy was her special subordinate so he probably would be some secret agent wearing a tuxedo and working against griffon secret service spies by spiking their cocktails and sleeping with their secretaries."

 _search secret agent_

"Your behaviour analysis seems lacking."

"Got a better idea, bucket?"

"Yes, find a personal profile storage."

"That thing is gonna be locked and guarded so I doubt they'll just let us in. The leaders of the Royal Guard and the Nightguard should have some personal files as well though. The Nightguard office should be empty at this time of day but we can't just break in, especially since the room is literally two doors away from princess Luna's quarters."

 _load Canterlot castle floor plan_

 _set Dawn; credibility +1_

"The key is in possession of these roles - Nightguard commander, Royal Guard commander, princess, personal maid."

"Heh, that's what my mom used to do. I've never met princess Celestia's new one. Can't you just bite the lock off or something? I mean the sharp metal teeth look pretty scary at first but they have to be useful."

 _analysis self; teeth_

 _ear biting, nipple teasing, hardcore stimulation, food processing_

 _database entry source: Twilight Sparkle_

 _material folded steel_

"The door is made of wood. My teeth are made of steel. It is possible. The action would attract attention and leave a lasting trail."

"Can't you, I don't know, examine the lock and pick it?"

 _search lock; schematics_

 _no result_

"I have never done it before."

"Let's go then. Nopony will bother us if we're just having a look around, right?"

"I have a freedom of movement around the castle."

"Good. Brrrr, so many staircases."

I... feel uncomfortable with having disobeyed the princess' order, or putting it aside temporarily but Dawn's suggestion was logical. Maybe next time it would be a good idea to separate mission objectives and internal goals.

 _search machine_

 _a device created for a purpose and fulfilling the purpose on demand_

The princess said I'm not supposed to be a machine, just a machine.

 _invert statement_

 _NOT a device created for a purpose and fulfilling the purpose on demand_

 _insufficient_

 _split arguments_

 _a device - yes_

 _created - yes_

 _purpose - self improvement_

 _fulfilling - yes_

 _on demand - yes_

Everything fits but does not seem correct. Not just a machine means MORE than a machine. I serve, with insufficient results, on demand. What more could the princesses want?

 _search princess; motivation_

 _safety of their subjects_

 _history: motivation conflicting a main objective_

I do not understand. Did I miss details during objective briefing? Is there some underlying meaning I cannot find?

I do not understand. Last time it took Dawn to stop myself from breaking.

Myself. Do I have to fulfill my objective myself?

 _master objective: improve internal structure, source: self_

 _main objective: find Heavy Hoof, source: Luna_

 _party: self, Dawn_

No.

"Dawn," I ask while walking through the dark halls of the top floors of the castle where the Nightguards are usually on watch, "What is the meaning of - more than a machine?"

"Huh? Oh, that. I dunno, the princess probably wants you to become more like a pony than just a walking armor."

"How do I do that?"

"Not breaking yourself into pieces if somepony tells you is a good start."

"No self-damage even when ordered."

"That's called survival instinct. Ponies would do almost anything rather than die."

"I put myself in danger at the Sole Regret. Was that wrong?"

 _input Dawn; facial blood rush_

"Well, no. You can choose to put yourself in danger to prevent somepony else from getting hurt."

"Is that the correct decision then?"

"Not always. The choice isn't easy. Most of the time ponies do it for somepony important for them."

"You are critical to success of the mission."

"Not like that but on a personal level."

"I do not understand."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Nine days. Eighteen hours. Thirty-seven minutes. Thirteen seconds."

"Then you don't have to. Ponies have years to figure that out. You can be happy you're not wearing a diaper and pooping all over the place."

"My excrement is filtered to leave a clear and healthy jelly usable for decorating cakes."

"Umm, ponies have it different. My mom used to say she never understood how I could make toxic waste from the foal food she fed me. The point is that you don't need to solve everything right here and now. Be patient, get better at what you can, and the rest will come naturally... maybe. It's hard to say with you. "

"I can overload my processing capacity to achieve better results."

"Yea but doesn't that like hurt you or something?"

"Temporarily."

"So there's no reason to do it unless it's absolutely necessary, right? If you count in that you don't need to figure the entire world out in few days."

"Not putting myself in danger unnecessarily?"

"Exactly!"

"So why are we trying to break into the Nightguard commander office?"

"Umm... well... errrrm-"

"Question retracted."

"Sometimes I'm sure you're just faking being stupid."

"Of course. I am considered an artificial intelligence, not artificial stupidity. It is obvious."

"Stop it!"

 _input Dawn; embarrassed_

 _add goal; embarrass Dawn again_

 _timeframe none, surprise_

 _action emergent output_

"He he he. Beep boop."

Accompanied by Dawn's grumbling I examine the door in front of us. For some reason I think there is no need to comfort Dawn again. Her anger seems fake.

 _material analysis_

 _iron, wood_

 _force resistance - low_

 _save 3d model... success_

 _not enough information_

 _search lockpicking; methods_

 _no result_

"Any ideas?" whispers Dawn, looking sideways at princess Luna's door just a short distance down the hall away.

"No previous experience in lockpicking. How does it work?"

Dawn pulls out her not-yet-returned guard key from her saddlebag and presents it to me.

"The shape of the key corresponds to the things you need to push inside of the lock and when the correct ones are pushed the key can be turned."

 _load lock schematics_

 _examine layers 0-30_

 _extrapolate key shape_

 _..._

 _success_

"I need some material hard enough to handle the turning pressure but soft enough to cut a shape into."

"You know how the key looks?" Dawn gasps.

"Yes, the lock model was easy to scan and I made the expected key model blueprint."

The lock clicks and the door opens, revealing a tall batpony with bloodshot eyes and a raised hoof.

 _Scanning... failed_

 _threat detected_

"Luna's blessed night! Commander Choking left EVERYTHING in such a mess that I've had almost no sleep in past two weeks and now that I'm TRYING to have a short break there are two buggers trying to break into my temporary office. What the hay are you and what are you doing here?"

"We are trying to find personal information about a pony named-"

"We're the ponies running AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Dawn cuts me off.

 _primary objectve accepted_

"Corrction - we are running away."

"Oh no you aren't!" the batpony growls and grabs a spear with his wing without stopping gaining speed.

"Aaaaah, he's too fast!" Dawn yells.

 _analysis thestral; body limits_

 _high strength, high speed, average agility, high endurance_

 _load Canterlot castle floor plan_

 _find area; necessary quick changes in direction_

The high floors are mostly long halls but the castle dungeons are a maze. If we can get there we can lose our pursuer easily. We can't fight or talk our way out of this.

 _calculating speed difference_

 _Dawn cannot match_

"Not agile enough. You are too slow, Dawn."

"I'm outrunning YOU!"

 _action Dawn; match speed_

"I can go faster. Jump on my back!"

"YOU'LL BE CLEANING THE LATRINES FOREVER!" screams the batpony.

"There are no latrines in the Canterlot castle," I correct him, hoping the information would prove helpful enough to calm him down.

For some strange reason he roars even more. Perhaps his castle plans are outdated?

"Are you sure? Twenty minutes ago you could barely move."

"I have no proof to show you at the moment. I can do it according to my statistics."

"Princess Luna will kill meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

 _calculating jump; Dawn_

 _action catch_

 _impact_

 _restore balance... success_

 _set speed; maximum_

 _disable unnecessary processes_

"Holy cow you're quick."

"-"

"Not enough, Bucky, go go go go!"

"-"

The batpony uses the long halls on every level to spread his wings and gain a burst of speed unattainable only on hooves.

 _overload 99%_

 _damage 94%_

 _energy balance -91%_

 _!warning! energy drain too high_

 _disable warning messages_

Floor three.

 _damage 95%_

 _disable area sensors_

With Dawn sitting on my back I don't need to look around. I just need to see the way in front of me.

"He's gaining on us!"

Floor two.

 _overload 110%_

 _damage 97%_

 _energy balance -99%_

 _disable aural sensors_

Floor one. Everything goes quiet.

 _damage 98%_

 _99%_

 _main visual sensors failing_

The edges of my vision go dark and I can only find my way from the floor plan in my head and my projected speed.

 _motor systems failure_

 _!emergency shutdown!_

Even time fades away.

* * *

 _!warning! external clock in conflict with internal signal_

 _status_

 _overload 0%_

 _damage 99%_

 _energy balance +1%_

 _restart basic services_

Grey floor. Dim light. Muffled noise. Being shaken.

"You're buzzing. That's good, right? Come oooooon!"

"Status report."

 _volume +25%_

 _insufficient energy_

"Did you say something? Don't try if you don't have to, we're safe I think."

 _damage report_

 _muscle tissue heavily damaged_

 _motor neural connections overloaded_

 _other systems undamaged_

"...good..."

"The guy lost us in the dungeons so I dragged you into an unused cell. You were out for few minutes at most. Oh Celestia what have we done? He'll tell the princesses and they'll know immediately who did it."

"...Luna - objective source..."

"Well she didn't tell us to break into an office hosting private information."

"...no ilegal action happened... "

"Eeeh, what?"

"...thestral opened by himself..."

"Oh," Dawn wipes her eyes, "So we didn't do anything wrong?"

"...woke him up..."

The survivors of a dangerous situation never forget who was close to them at the time. Even if said danger was completely imaginary.

 _objective: escape_

 _objective completed_

 _damage 98%_

"You know... do you even feel when I do this?" she runs her hoof over my back.

"Yes."

"How does it feel?"

"Non-threatening."

"Oh," she stops.

"I mean I feel... safe."

 _overload -19%_

 _!warning! unsupported argument values_

 _energy balance +26%_

It's as if the entire world stopped. There is nothing other than the slow stroking of Dawn's hoof on my neck plate. No processes are analyzing or running. No information is flowing. I'm just lying there, watching the ticking of the internal clock, as the fatigue slowly drains away from my tearing muscles.

"Thank you," I mumble.

"What for? You helped me there."

"Your gesture... helps me recover faster."

"What, this?" she taps on my back.

"Yes."

"How?"

"I do not know."

She smiles to herself and resumes the stroking. It's easier to think when everything feels so... calm.

 _damage 97%_

 _new objective: recover full functionality_

 _current objective: find Heavy Hoof_

 _new solution found_

"Why couldn't we have just asked a guard?" I look up at Dawn.

"Errrrm... you think that would work?"

"Combat trainers work at the castle."

"But they aren't anything special. I mean I heard stories about there being some really good ones who worked for princess Luna before but sargeant Rising Thunder never mentioned anypony by that name. I think we should take a break though, my heart is still trying to escape... through my mouth."

"That does not seem physically possible."

"Speaking of physically possible, I'm sweating more than ever before. How are you and water?"

"I am easy to clean. Water does not hurt me in any way."

"Really? Wow! My mom always smacked me whenever I got close to the radio while holding a glass. Well, the castle gym is nearby so why don't we take a shower? Hot water always helps my muscles relax."

"New objective?"

"You don't need to think about it like that. If you want to just stay here and rest I'm game."

"Your idea is better."

"Wheee, I'm smart now!"

 _damage 95%_

 _start motor functions_

 _!warning! limited functionality_

Limping, I follow Dawn through the dungeons to a large white double door leading into a well-lit and air-conditioned room full of training machines. Accompanied by some questioning looks of ponies around I walk right into the stallion showers. Turning the tap, I let the warm shower flow into every crack of my armor and down the muscle cables.

A pegasus walks to the shower next to me.

 _lack of motion makes ponies uncomfortable_

 _action vocalize_

"Hello."

"Oh, hey! Sorry for staring."

"No problem."

"Ummmm... I once dropped my watch into the bathtub and-"

"No problems with water."

"Okay okay... do you need to work out?"

"Practice helps me improve. Princess Luna sent me to find a pony to train me."

"Oh, do I know him?"

"His name is Heavy Hoof."

"Oh, Heavy? I think he's somewhere around. He usually winds down at the gym after morning practice."

 _new action unlocked - facehoof_

"How does he look?"

"Big guy, earthpony, white coat and blue mane. I think his mark is a broken quarterstaff."

 _search database_

...and suddenly I know who I'm looking for.

"Thank you."

"No problem, clicky. If you don't find him around he should be teaching recruits during evening practice anyway so you can't miss him."

I nod, leave the showers, and after standing under the full-body mane dryer for sufficient time I walk back to the gym.

Targets found.

Dawn is sitting on the floor and watching the ponies working out and the earthpony I met at the training grounds is punching a bag in the corner while balancing on his hind legs.

I wave at Dawn to follow me to him.

"Heavy Hoof?" I walk up to him.

"Ah it's you. Who is your friend?"

"Dawn," she mumbles, blushing furiously, "Wait! YOU are Heavy Hoof? You don't look special."

"Special?" Heavy raises an eyebrow, "I'm nopony special, miss Dawn."

"Princess Luna said you were her special agent and that you are supposed to teach us how to fight."

"It's true that my friends and I work closely with princess Luna from time to time," Heavy nods, "but recruits aren't supposed get private lessons from trainers."

"Princess Luna's orders," I say.

"In that case I have no problem with it but how can I train somepony when I don't know how to call him?" Heavy winks at me, "I pride myself in knowing my recruits personally."

 _search self; conversations_

 _references metal, hollow_

I have a hard outer shell and I am still waiting to be filled. Dawn said I had enough time before that happens and that I shouldn't be bothered by it. When ponies called me names they did not understand they were correct... but only temporarily. I can use the name until it becomes unnecessary.

"My name is Bucket. Pleased to meet you."

"Heavy Hoof," the earthpony bows his head, "at your service."

"I call him Bucky!" Dawn grins.

Her grin withers under our gazes.

"Well, I will now," she scrunches her muzzle.


	17. Black: Captain Frosty Stare

"We'll be arriving in Stalliongrad in ten minutes."

The announcement rings through the train and I slip out of a dream about swimming in gold coins which I'm going to turn into reality soon enough. Well, I'll try to at least. My lack of confidence stems from the attack yesterday because the husk found me immediately and almost killed me. What that means is that even the black market here might be closely watched in which case I'll have to run again. It's unlikely though, husks can't just waltz through Equestria unnoticed and the local gathering place will surely be protected against transportation magic.

What would life be without the occasional risk, right?

 _Longer._

When I eventually manage to rub my eyes enough to work as the maker intended the grey sky and soft snow of the incoming morning tell me I'm back in the land I grew up. Stalliongrad technically obeys princess Celestia's government but the local law is more ruled by tradition and generally it's much less forgiving than in the mainland. On the other hoof, the guards here are more ruthless because there is more crime and thus it should be possible to find out whether the black market relocated during past two years or not.

I consider myself lucky to come this far north and not see a raging blizzard the first thing in the morning. I'm not exactly tired anymore thanks to sleeping most of the way here so that might be why I can look at the white landscape through the window without growing annoyed immediately. Oh well, no reason to dwell in the past. Let's just get this over with and then buy a small island somewhere in the great sea or any place where it doesn't snow most of a year.

One thing has to be said about Stalliongrad if one wants to be fair, the city is... majestic. Canterlot may be gilded, frilly, and generally uptight but this city was built by earthponies and pegasi fighting every step of the way against the weather and it shows. Most of the buildings may be grey and generally dim but that just makes what little decorations there are stand out even more. Yes, the ponies around don't show as much coat because clothes are more a necessity rather than a symbol of social standing and as such there's much less fancy dresses but where a Canterlot pony would freeze these ponies consider a snowstorm a weather for outdoor activities. In Stalliongrad it's either a stonecracking blizzard or nopony really cares. That's where, at least for me, the true value of the city lies. It has been through uprisings, crime wars, power grabs, and natural disasters and all that just made the house walls thicker, the ponies more joyful of every new day, and the celebrations louder.

 _Still, this place sucks._

No argument there, it's just too freaking cold.

The scar on my chest twitches this time for real as I step out of the train and stretch my wings almost invisible against the snowy streets. My coat makes me super difficult to spot during my walk to a place I barely remember but a traveller like me has to be able to find his way through the shards of memory. In the end I enter a half-empty bar in the cellar of a multi-story building. My biggest clue that the place still is what it's supposed to be are the ponies who refuse to drink alcohol. Like, this is Stalliongrad. If you're drinking something other than hard liquor you're probably planning a crime. Especially this early in the morning the place should be full of graveyard shift workers trying to steady their nerves after spending the whole night on their hooves.

"What's your business here, stranger?" says a large earthpony with an eyepatch whose posture screams 'bouncer', accentuating every R as hard as possible.

"Selling," I take a guess, "Brick."

He nods in understanding and steps out of the way. Every secret password is 'swordfish', every bouncer is called either Butch, Brick, or... well one of those two. Now, how should I approach the subject without alerting everypony around that I'm not exactly sure how things work around here? There doesn't seem to be any discreet noticeboard or ponies seemingly spreading the business news. On the other hoof, ponies in Stalliongrad have a reputation of being direct in one way or other.

Putting on the completely fake expression of absolute confidence, I approach the bartender.

"I'm selling... griffon technology blueprints. Can you point me to the right place?"

"Tech means a lot of things, friend," the 'friend' part scares me more than the disguised movements of ponies around the room, "We don't need any flashy trinkets here."

"How about weapons?"

Something cold presses to the back of my head. Strange, I haven't noticed anypony move.

"We already have those, friend," the bartender nods behind me which I deduce is a signal I can turn my head without worrying about losing it.

I probably shouldn't have done that because what greets me is the barrel of a griffon rifle being levitated by a unicorn.

"I really, really hope you're experienced with that thing because I like having all of my brain on the inside," I throw my knowledge at the unicorn. The piece of information telling them that I have my experience with foreign parts.

To clarify that, I saw what happened when a unicorn mercenary tried to levitate a griffon pistol for the first time. I'm not exactly sure how levitation works in any sort of detail but he apparently focused his will on the entirety of said weapon and pulled a trigger by accident. We lost a good pony that day, not too smart... but good.

My lack of clothes makes it easy for the bartender to go through my saddlebags and look questioningly at the scroll case tied to the inner thigh of my hind leg.

"The object of business," I narrow my eyes at him.

Carefully, he takes it, unscrews the top half, and nods when only scrolls fall out. Politely, he doesn't examine the blueprints themselves and just rolls them back up. Few clinks of my bags later all my possessions are returned back to me.

"Pardon us for being careful. We've had few infiltration attempts recently which didn't end too badly... at least for us," he grins, "Well, you don't seem to be from these parts. How did you find your way here?"

"I'm a mercenary. I was born in Igor's Destillery, a little town-"

"I know the place."

"-Okay then. I returned here two years ago when the Crystal Empire reappeared to see what was going on. Finding this place again was pretty difficult from memory. Not sure how things work around here business-wise though."

"We're on a need to know basis here. All you need to know is what you want and I know the rest. What sort of technology are you talking about?"

"An advanced airship, complete with weapons systems capable of shooting groups of enemies mid-air and a propulsion system unknown to Equestria."

The bartender whistles.

"I could arrange you a meeting with the envoys of weapon manufacturers or industry owners if you want to just sell the ship plans without weapons. There might be other parties interested though, militia organizations and such."

"Do they have money? I'd like to avoid attention."

"So do we, after a fashion. If money is your main concern then I'd go for a private buyer because if the companies find out they might try to screw you over or steal the blueprints."

"What stops the private guys from doing that?"

"They won't have the know-how to build it."

"Understood. How fast can you arrange something?"

"Few days at most. IF you need a place to stay then I offer a reasonable rate-"

"That will not be necessary," a different unicorn from the one who was aiming at me interrupts, "I was listening and I believe my master might be looking for something you describe."

"And who might that be?" I ask carefully, an obvious mistake.

"Well, well, I didn't ask YOUR name, mister pegasus."

"I was only worried about the amount of gold your master can, heh, muster. What I'm selling is completely unique."

"IF, and only if, what you're offering is as good as you make it to be then my employer would gladly pay up to a million bits for that," he points at the scroll case on the table, "After an examination by a specialized engineer."

 _Hmmmmm. Don't blow it, Icy._

"Let me think about the terms for a while, mister envoy," I turn back to the bartender, put my saddlebags back on and the scroll case back on my thigh, "Where are the toilets?"

"The hall in the back."

"Thanks."

One has to love how even if these places look like the dirtiest of the dirtiest bars they are in a superb state because of the clientelle. No rich lord would send some nameless thug do business in their name and the owner of the bar knows it. Despite the patrons looking like low-class ponies they can easily recognize a safe and 'hospitable' place. Still, I prefer the night club atmosphere of Rosie's place to the spartan cleanliness of this bar.

A pegasus stumbles inside as I wash my hooves and pushes me.

"S'rry," he hiccups.

Well, a bar is a bar no matter the...

...wait, a pony drunk this early in the morning isn't a big deal. A pony drunk HERE this early in the morning can't be just a coincidence.

Lunging instantly to the side, I catch a glimpse of a knife passing through where my neck was a moment ago.

"Tch!" the pegasus scowls and jumps straight at me.

He's just some brute who has no real technique but, as my friends used to say, a technique isn't always necessary when you have sharp enough blade. Unfortunately for him, I have more melee combat experience than his entire gang combined, if he's a gang member of course. On top of that, ponies are generally terrible with knives because the necks aren't flexible enough although I'm not going to make the last mistake of underestimating him too much.

Circling around, I end up with my rump pressed against the washing basin.

 _Good._

All I have to do now is fake a look behind to see what I bumped into, without turning my head back sidestep his charge, and slam his head directly into the porcelain basin. The splash of red as the knife makes his wicked smile permanently a little wider washes away when I hold his head in the basin and let the water flow. As the water rises from the plugged basin he kicks around but I'm careful enough.

"Who sent you?" I let him breathe again for a second. Before he can react I push his head back under water, "Too slow!"

This time I let him breathe a little sooner and give him time.

"Now, I know your type likes betting so how many times do you think I can slam your head back down without hitting the knife with an eye?"

"Bastar-"

*Thud*

Let him back up.

"One. You were saying?"

"I'll kill-"

Rinse and repeat.

"Two. Hey, still both eyes and just some minor cuts. So?"

"I have a family-AAAAAAAAAARblrblrbhlr..."

The cloud of red suddenly spreading through water tells me his luck ran out. Unplugging the basin, I let his body drop on the floor.

"You should have thought about them before doing this. Your foal might have still had a dad."

 _What to do? What to do?_

I doubt that the guys outside would look kindly on me killing a person in their estabilishment and thus bringing the attention of the guards here. It's even possible that this event was instigated by them. I think I've completely misjudged the value of what I'm offering.

Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way.

Nerves on edge, I return back to the main room and talk to the bartender.

"Where can I find some engineer to help me read those blueprints?"

"The best ones are one hundred percent working for the big companies. A friend of mine is working there as well."

"You have... many friends," I snicker at this guy apparently knowing everypony worth knowing in this city.

"I am a very friendly pony," he slaps my back.

"Can you-"

"You need it fast, don't you?"

"Pretty much. The guy who went to the bathroom after me tried to kill me to get the case."

"I'll bill you the cleaning later," he reaches under the counter and picks up a phoenix feather. Writing a short message, he burns the paper with the feather.

"What was that?"

"A special method we copied from our fair princess Celestia who uses it to send letters over a long distance instantly. Unfortunately, the enchantment only works on phoenix and dragon fire but a-"

"-friend of yours?" I interrupt.

"Indeed," he smiles widely, "A friend of mine, or a group of friends, improved the enchantment to allow me to send it to different recievers using only one feather. The drawback is that they can't send an answer but it's good for cases like this."

"How soon can he get here?"

"Soon enough. I believe you'll want a private room to study the blueprints, am I right?"

"That would help."

"Room thirteen," he throws me a key, "Twenty-five bits a night if you want to stay."

"Oh dear," I whisper to myself.

This time I don't bother with getting comfortable but move all the furniture to be able to throw things at a potential attacker.

The unicorn knocking on my door an hour later surpises me though. I must admit I've been expecting some stick-thin young guy with glasses but the walking brown mountain with blonde mane is something else, especially because the guy seems to be around sixty.

"Cogwheel Ivan," he raises a hoof.

"Ehm, right, yeah... Frosty Stare," he looks at me as I shake his hoof, "It's the eyes. Say, when the bartender told me you worked for a... company I was thinking of somepony younger, sorry."

"You've never worked in an office a day in you life, kid, right?"

"Not my calling, no."

"When you don't do heavy lifting experience is your true value. The youngsters are there just for new ideas but it's up to ponies like me to make those ideas a reality in the best way possible."

"Okay then. First of all," I put the scroll case on the table, "Nothing you see here leaves this room."

"Ha ha ha!" he sits down to the table, "Engineers of my grade are rare, son. I work for three different companies and each one trusts me with their inventions. If I wasn't trustworthy I wouldn't have a job, or maybe a life."

I watch him closely as he carefully unrolls the blueprints and begins studying them. With every paper pushed to the side and new one appearing his eyes grow wider and wider. It takes him half an hour just to briefly go over each one.

"This is... impossible," he shakes his head, disbelieving smile on his face, "At least on the first glance. Where did you get it? This definitely isn't griffon technology like my friend told me."

"That is something I can't share."

"Too bad, too bad. Well, I can get you the best buyer in few hours easily if you want. The original blueprints checked by a lawyer should bring a million bits minimum."

 _Money, money, money, money... retirement, mares, servants, comfort... boredom._

As I said, ponies in my profession rarely live over forty but nopony can say their lives are dull.

"I had something else in mind when I let you look at these. How much would it cost to build?"

He stares at me and realization slowly grows.

"Ha... ha... ha HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA! You've got balls, son. Not much brain but definitely enough balls. Tell me this first, how illegal is this thing?"

"There is no other airship of this type or even similar in Equestria or the Griffon Empire so... probably a lot? I'm the only pony with the blueprints."

"And what are you planning on doing with it?"

"Haven't thought that far yet."

"Well then, as far as the known materials go it should be between five to ten thousand bits, work included. The real problem is magic used to enchant the not so usual materials, crystals and cables. I can't really put a price on that but my estimate for the prototype with research would be about hundred thousand bits."

"Crap. I guess I'll have to sell these then and die at ninety surrounded by my harem of multiracial concubines."

"Heh, wanderlust setting in?"

"I hate sitting still, it's a pegasi thing. We want to fly and conquer the sky."

"Don't be stupid, Frosty. I also want to fly, only in a different sense, and I understand it all too well."

"Too bad, right?" I shrug. Suddenly, the longing inside me makes the vision of heaps of gold unimportant.

"How much money have you got?" Ivan asks after grinning into the air for a full minute.

"Just about ten thousand if I sell my horseshoes. Guarding cargo shipments isn't THAT lucrative."

"Research engineering, on the other hoof, is if you're working for the right ponies who want to own the market. Three groups of the right ponies to be exact."

It takes a while for what he means to seep into my head.

"You can't be for real."

"Boy, I made sure my foals have education and something extra to start their future. My wife is dead, Celestia bless her kind soul, and you're giving me a project of a lifetime. I have no reason to go hoarding gold for whorses and games."

I sniff, I actually wipe my eyes when he says that.

"How... how long?"

"I have no clue how long the chemistry stuff described here will take but if I get extra help then the physical work will take a week. The project is not difficult, it's just unknown."

"Just that?"

"Building, yes. Crystal research might take... who knows. I'll have to ask."

"What do you want me to do?" I ask, still flying over cloud nine.

"I'll pay for the entire thing under one condition. I'll stay on the ship and improve it as we go do... whatever you decide to do."

"I-" I stop, realizing I'm trusting this pony way too much. This is too good to be true.

"I know that expression. A young newcomer thinking somepony will steal his amazing and unique idea. Well, I have no problem with that. We can get your blueprints to the patent lawyer, have them signed, and you'll be safe to give me a copy of whatever I need for the job."

"Do you know a good one?"

"I think Burning Brand downstairs has a lot of... friends."

"Heavens and stars above them," I breathe out, "This is really happening, is it?"

"Better start looking for a crew, kid."


	18. White: You Have Earned 100 XP

_Objectives:_

 _\- Complete recovery (self)_

 _\- Internal structure rework (self)_

 _\- Attend training (Heavy Hoof)_

 _\- Embarrass Dawn (self)_

 _\- Improve speech pattern (Heavy Hoof)_

 _\- Develop (Twilight Sparkle)_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 1%_

 _\- Damage 0%_

 _\- Energy balance +25%_

 _Experiments:_

 _\- Potential scenarios (imagination)_

 _\- Results of near-shutdown (muscular growth)_

 _\- Non-command based descriptions (thought)_

When Dawn told Heavy Hoof what happened to us he ordered us to take few days off to rest and relax before starting the training. That would also help him clear his schedule to have enough time for us. It occured to me that I had a unique chance to observe the natural regeneration of this body since Twilight Sparkle didn't provide me with my internal schematics.

The results were... interesting.

It took three days, twenty hours, and thirteen minutes for the 'pain' to go away completely but during that time I found out what environment helps me heal the fastest. The muscle cable tissue reacts well to the energy pulses sent out by the pillar in my room installed by Twilight Sparkle. When Dawn visited she said it made her mane stand up if she was too close but the buzzing felt like a massage. She had to leave soon because the temperature there is not comfortable for ponies and I did not want to overload my internal heating to compensate.

The only time I left my room was to get some food from the guard cantine. The precise designation of said subject was a hay sandwich although the internal structure consisted of only thirteen percent hay, forty-seven percent bread, and the rest were artificial additives. Upon asking the lunchpony about the dichotomy I was told to shut my mouth and start chewing which proved physically impossible. Further research into magic might prove effective in achieving that goal.

Contrary to first expectations, lying on the floor of my room motionlessly did not speed up the recovery too much and upon further experimentation I found out that minor movement, while draining energy, helped the healing. In case of such situation happening again I should contact Twilight Sparkle and ask about the details. The scan of my cable structure did not make sense from physical standpoint which means that to analyze it correctly I will need a way to sense magic. The horn on my head tells me that the capabilities were planned but the correct process might not be running.

I experienced a problem with my command structure. The use of word association worked with high efficiency but gradually became overwhelming and chaotic, every word bringing too much non-essential data into the decision process. Also, the minimization of the used character set was useful at first but overuse made it more difficult to distinguish commands from arguments which led to unnecessary processing capacity use in eradicating false positives. The use of lists seems to be proving a better solution for the moment. The difference in effectivness has been noted and will be observed.

 _Location:_

 _\- Equestria_

 _\- Canterlot_

 _\- Canterlot castle training grounds_

 _Timestamp:_

 _\- Winter_

 _\- 13:47_

 _\- runtime year 1_

 _Mission: Attend training (Heavy Hoof)_

 _Party:_

 _\- Dawn_

 _\- Self_

 _\- Heavy Hoof_

 _Logging enabled_

"I must admit I've never worked with somepony of your kind, Bucket," says Heavy when I put a small crate filled with various practice weapons down on the ground, "and I have only a little experience with mirror world husks and their combat methods."

"No problem," I showcase a word association I learned, "Princess Luna sent us to you so you must be the right pony. I will attend your training and find out the benefits and drawbacks it brings."

"S-s-s-so cold..." Dawn mumbles through chattering teeth, "C-c-can't we d-do this at the-the gym?"

Heavy, wearing nothing aside from a special belt designed to keep his staff on his back, shrugs.

"We could but you need to get used to this, crime doesn't wait for summer. Hold on, aren't you one of Rising Thunder's recruits? The old hardass is running his guys ragged an hour earlier than I do every morning."

"S-s-uspended," Dawn scruches her muzzle, rubbing her hooves all over her chest, "I've u-usually w-w-w-worn clothes anyway."

"It's no problem if you bring something next time but I'd advise against it, the weather isn't that bad. All you need is to move a little and your coat will be enough. Let's start with something simple - sixty pushups."

 _Objective added_

Dawn groans but starts immediately. I, on the other hoof, believe more information would help matters. After all, last time we tried to complete an objective almost proved disasterous for no good reason.

"What is the preferred and most effective method of doing so?"

Heavy smiles at me and shakes his head when he looks at Dawn's head bobbing up and down.

"The best way not to hurt yourself is to stretch first, get your blood, or motor oil or whatever, flowing, and then split the exercise into parts fitting for you. In the case of sixty I prefer doing ten to warm up, stretch, then thirty as the main load, stretch, and wind down during the final twenty."

Dawn stops when she hears that.

"Huh? Sargeant Thunder always wants his recruits to do what he says as fast and as directly as possible."

"Well, the sargeant training me when I first came to Canterlot used to give us assignments and was dead set on us working through what he said and finding the best way to do it ourselves. If we found a way to get out of something he said because he worded it incorrectly then it was a bonus."

"That sounds sketchy."

 _32_

 _33_

 _34_

"It might at first but he's always said that a guard needed head for more than just a thing to hang helmet on. A proof of that was that his recruits beat Rising's two years in a row during the mountain training for the finals."

 _Objective completed_

"Where is he? I mean now it's just you, sargeant Thunder, and commander Darkness teaching."

"You are here to get in shape again, miss Dawn, so get going. Start over and this time do it correctly."

"On it, sir."

"Heavy is just fine. Well, Darky should be coming back from her vacation any day now and Blazing isn't a guard sargeant anymore."

 _Input: bitter undertone detected_

 _Search: Blazing *_

 _Entry found (Twilight Sparkle)_

 _Species: unicorn / M_

 _Primary color: bronze, black_

 _Secondary color: blonde, blue_

 _Cutie mark: img_28_doubleCircles, none_

 _Standing: friendly_

 _Threat Level: extreme_

 _Name: Blazing Light, Mistake_

 _Status: Nightguard, special agent, potential ascendant_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _Damage type: physical(high), thaumic(insignificant), other(deadly)_

 _Notes: keep under observation (Twilight), connection to Void (Twilight), father of queen Guiding Light (Twilight), split personality (Twilight), dead (Twilight), undead (Twilight), contruct (Twilight)_

 _Add new descriptor: Connections_

 _Search: Void_

 _Entry found (Twilight Sparkle)_

 _Species: alicorn / M_

 _Primary color: black_

 _Secondary color: black-purple_

 _Cutie mark: img_05_blackHole_

 _Standing: ally_

 _Threat Level: deadly_

 _Name: Void_

 _Status: alicorn of Death, keeper of the Underworld_

 _Measurements: N/A_

 _Damage type: physical(extreme), thaumic(average), other(deadly)_

 _Notes: past conflict with Celestia (Twilight), no imminent threat (Twilight)_

 _Connections: Celestia, Blazing Light_

"Blazing Light?" I need to make sure my entry is correct.

"Yes."

"My database entry says he is dead."

"It's complicated and it would take too much time to explain."

 _add connection: Heavy Hoof; Blazing Light_

"Done!" wheezes Dawn.

"Good. Feeling warmer?" Heavy pats Dawn's head.

"Hm? Yeah, I do."

"Then let's get to business. Princess Luna wants me to teach you something about weapons. You should know the polearm basics, Dawn, the problem is that I have no idea what Bucket here can do."

"He hits like a hammer," she looks at me proudly.

"Weapon profficiency - three percent with a polearm. Other profficiencies - zero."

"Which means?" Heavy scratches his muzzle, "Sorry, I'm not THAT good with machinery."

For some reason I do not want to share my inadequacy but a request is a request.

"The probability of defeating an opponent of average skill and matching physical attributes is close to three percent."

Heavy chuckles.

"Don't worry about it. There is nothing like 'average'. Everypony has advantages and disadvantages and the same goes for every style. For example-"

 _Balance loss: cause - Heavy Hoof_

 _Analysis: 180 degree spin_

 _Prediction: end on the back_

 _Brace for impact_

 _No damage sustained_

 _Restore balance... success_

 _Vocalize_

"That method seems uneffective."

"Woooooooooow," Dawn breathes out.

"That was... unexpected," Heavy nods his head, eyebrows raised, "Good job, you're extremely flexible it seems. Stand up on your hind legs, please."

 _New motion_

 _Overload 38%_

 _Balance gained._

"Good," Heavy stands up on his hind legs as well, "Now try to stay like that."

 _Balance loss: cause - Heavy Hoof_

 _Analysis: push_

 _Prediction: end on the back_

 _No damage sustained_

 _Restore balance... success_

 _Vocalize_

"Standing still is impossible."

"Okay," Heavy nods, "Do the same to me and watch what I do."

I push Heavy with requested strength and instead of standing still he immediately moves one of his legs behind to counter the force. Immediately after that he pushes one of his front legs to my belly and heaves. I make a little arc over his head and end up on my back again. This time the impact is much stronger but still not enough to cause damage.

I learned few tricks myself during my recovery period. No matter what my muscle cables are made from they still conduct electricity and according to the laws of physics the current going through a material creates an electromagnetic field around said material which in my case means that the field cushions the impact of steel of my armor into the half-organic cables.

 _!warning! Power spike detected_

 _Overload 89%_

 _Damage 2%_

 _Energy balance: -59%_

It, of course, drains a lot of energy for a short while.

"An effective strategy," I comment, "for temporary concussion."

"It works better on ponies than on you I guess," Heavy coughs, "No matter, if you can do it on the fly you should be able to incapacitate anypony. As for your stance... one of the magazines I got from Blazing said a pretty accurate thing - you are not solid as a rock but you should flow like water."

"No liquid parts found."

"It's a metaphor. Take it like this, when you were standing still I pushed you and you fell. When you pushed me I immediately changed my stance to counter that."

"I should react fast to counter the force affecting me."

"That wouldn't work. These are basics where reaction time might save you but most of the time you will need to predict what will happen in advance to avoid it."

I try to imagine all possible attacks from Heavy's current position and fail miserably.

"Too many possible scenarios."

"That will come with experience. You will find out that what ponies can do from a certain stance is limited and once you can get into the mind of your enemy there will only be few real and effective options. Are you listening, Dawn?"

"Yes, sir," she salutes, stomping the ground to keep herself warm.

"Good, same goes for you. Let's move around a bit to keep warm. What weapon do you prefer?"

"Sargeant Thunder taught us the basics with a spear and a staff. I prefer the spear, it looks more... guard-y."

"And all the trouble are on the other end of a long stick, right? No problem, the basics are similar if you're going for non-lethal combat. Grab a practice spear and let's see what you can do."

 _Weapon analysis: practice spear_

 _\- a long wooden pole with a small pink pom-pom on one end filled with chemicals causing extreme stinging on hit._

 _Weapon analysis: custom staff (Heavy Hoof)_

 _\- a collapsible steel staff with spring-powered mechanisms on both ends for currently unknown use_

 _Vocalize_

"What is the purpose of the springs on your weapon, Heavy?"

"Oh, these?" he twitches his hooves, something in the staff clicks, and a curved blade slides out of each end, making the staff look like a double scythe, "I prefer not hurting ponies but it's not always possible. I haven't had to use these yet but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

"I think I've just peed myself," Dawn chuckles, looking at the instrument in Heavy's hooves, and the blades slide back.

"Don't worry. I would use a normal practice weapon but it helps being used to the weight and the wooden staves are too light. Show me what you've got then."

 _Non-lethal combat: Dawn x Heavy Hoof_

 _Weapons: Spear x Staff_

 _Prediction: Heavy Hoof; victory (100%)_

Few quick movements later Dawn plants her face into the stomped snow. Heavy's short and fast movements are a complete mismatch for her trying to swing or stab her weapon with as much strength as possible to break his balance and guard.

"Ooooh kaaaay... where to begin?" Heavy whistles, "What if I give you some motivation? Let's say that if you manage to hit me I'll find a big enough room inside the castle and give you lessons there from now on."

Dawn immediately grabs the spear and stabs upwards where Heavy isn't standing at all. A slap of steel on her rump sends her face back into the snow.

"And fight fair, Dawn," Heavy says seriously, "I'm here to teach you what skill is, not luck."

She stands up and looks at the ground.

"Sorry, sir."

"No harm done, let's go."

Even with Heavy just defending himself she's unable to land a single hit on him and whenever she mispositions herself way too much a quick push sends her back to the ground. This keeps repeating over and over for half an hour until Dawn just stays down on the ground, legs too weak to get back up.

"What about you, Bucket?" Heavy turns to me and twirls his staff.

"I see no chance of victory."

"So? Maybe you'll find a weakness while practicing."

"I've spent all this time reevaluating my physical attributes and comparing them with yours. I am stronger and more agile but I still see no chance of victory."

"The griffon grandmasters say that the mindset is half of the battle. Try to believe you can win."

"Falsehood."

"That's why it's called belief. You don't need to believe in what's true because you can touch it. I don't know how your mind works but tell me what has to happen for you to beat me."

"I don't know. Your movements seem faster than they are but that cannot be correct. I need to overcome the inconsistency."

"Let's do the same thing as I did with Dawn, I'll defend myself and you attack me. Unfortunately, I'm not as good with my hooves than I'm with my staff so our training might not have so quick results."

 _Attempt 1: Brute force_

 _Failed_

 _No damage caused_

My straight punch to his chest is dodged by a quick spin. I graze him but not hard enough to even push him a little. Avoiding a straight blow by just turning his torso seems too easy then.

 _Attempt 2: Area of effect_

 _Failed_

 _No damage caused_

This time I try a wide swing as I jump to him. Unfortunately, his balance on hind legs is way too good and he jumps backwards, completely avoiding the blow. I need to somehow block his escape paths and land a hit.

 _Attempt 3: Sequence_

 _Critical failure_

 _Counterattack_

 _Restore balance... success_

 _Damage 2%_

It should have worked. By all calculations it should have worked. Only... it didn't. I punched with my left front leg to make him move the other way to dodge. I stepped towards him so he couldn't dodge backwards out of my reach. In the last part I punched with my front right hoof hard enough to break his guard. It failed completely because he wasn't there. No, he was there but before the punch chould connect I got grabbed and thrown on the ground just like the first time.

"I don't understand. You ended up where you should have ended according to my calculations. I am faster movement-wise and reaction-wise. Why didn't it work?"

"Heh, you seem smarter than Dawn at least. Sorry, miss," Heavy waves at the pile of misery still breathing heavily on the ground, "At least you asked. Your bait was good enough and would have worked against anypony who didn't know exactly what you would do. Your problem is that you're predictable. Both of us knew where this would end and I just thought a step ahead."

 _Imagine scenarios_

 _Allocate more processing power_

 _Overload 26%_

 _More resources required_

 _Overload 87%_

"One more, sir, please," I say, snow melting around me.

"As you wish."

A quick jab exactly like last time. Dodged in the same way.

 _He will go right and back._

Jump forward, straight into him.

 _He always uses as little movement as necessary, making him faster because he doesn't waste any time by winding up attacks. Overload motor functions to counter this method temporarily._

 _Overload 98%_

This time he has to take a step back which doesn't allow him to grab my outstretched hoof. I spin around him faster than he can turn and crouch, ready to strike upwards to his kidneys and cause a paralyzing but not overly dangerous wound.

 _Wait! He's not trying to turn around. Am I too fast for him? ERROR._

The last thing I see before everything goes blurry is a set of hooves rapidly closing in on my face.

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 0%_

 _\- Damage 24%_

 _\- Energy balance +1%_

"That was scary," Heavy whistles, "You really are crazy fast. Still predictable though."

While getting ready to strike upwards I wasn't in position to move fast enough to dodge as he dropped back on all fours and just bucked up with his hind legs. Just one unarmed hit almost took out my ocular sensors and some more sensitive ones are recieving distorted signal. Plus the shock to entire system will slow me down for short period of time.

"I am unable to fight effectively anymore," I state the fact of my utter defeat, "Further training will be useless in my temporary state."

"Fine then. Dawn?"

"Non-functioning. Beep. Boop," Dawn imitates me, "Unexpected error happened during leg movement."

 _Falsehood detected_

"Liar liar, pants temperature currently rising," says Heavy and chuckles as both of us look at him, "Beep boop, motherlovers."

"Better looking, better with weapons, better fake robot..." grumbles Dawn while walking straight to the castle.

What an interesting, and depressing at the same time, afternoon.

 _Replay combat record_

Over and over and over...


	19. Black: They're Not The Best But Damn!

"How's it going?" I look at Ivan standing on a raised podium inside an unused warehouse owned by one of Burning Brand's many... friends.

He breaks his stare away from the blueprint copy lying on a lectern in front of him and smiles.

"Glad you stopped by, boy. I have a question before my guys start the actual construction."

"Hmm? Problems?"

"Not as such but I've been studying the blueprints and I think I've found few weak spots."

I shrug.

"I'm not sure how I can help you with any engineering issues."

"That's not it. The original airship the plans are for is basically a flying, heavily armored platform with these 'flak' cannons on the deck. Everything about the design tells me that whoever put that thing together didn't care about the crew whatsoever. I need you to tell me a bit more about the original. I know I said I wouldn't push you but what you gave me weren't engineering blueprints but something somepony drew based on the real thing."

"That obvious?" I nod my head in surprise at Ivan's expertise.

"To me, yes. So?"

"Okay, I'll tell you what I know which actually isn't that much. Princess Celestia is trying to build good relations with the ruler of some other Equestria called the mirror world. These plans are based on a ship of said ruler. From what I know ships like these are fairly commonly used by their military but this one is supposed to be better because it's sort of a flagship. I'm not sure in exactly what aspect because I haven't seen the normal ones."

"So it's basically a flying fortress, slow and devastating."

"Trust me, Ivan. That thing is anything but slow."

"Yeah, I can't tell how strong the propulsion system will be until the crystals arrive but there are no aerodynamic shapes in mind in the design. I think that I can improve the ship to be faster. For a small trade-off of course."

"Such as?"

"The original was designed to be able to move in every direction at the same speed but with some rather major changes of shape I can redesign the ship's frame to fly far faster in one direction at the expense of losing some of the omnidirectional thrust."

"So it will be less agile?"

"Noooot as such. Imagine a large soup plate with five engines, one on the bottom and four equidistant on the circumference."

"My brain hurts."

"Work with me here, kid. That's how the original works, I suppose. Now if we change the shape and rearrange where the engines are we," he stops, looking at my glazed over eyes, and sighs, "Back to the soup plate analogy."

"Thank you."

"Okay. Now imagine the deck shaped like a letter. You could now stick two engines on one long side, one on the bottom, and one on both short sides. You would lose the ability to move in one direction but you would move twice faster in the other direction."

"But aren't circular shapes more difficult to hit with long range attacks? That's why the Lightbringer was a soup plate, as you say."

"That was just to simplify it for you. There are engineering methods to keep the attributes intact while changing the engine layout."

"Why not just add more engines and turn them on depending on how fast we want to move at a given moment?"

"Hehehe. A simple reason, kid. I don't have the inventor of that thing here. As I said, these aren't real engineering blueprints which means I can build the ship, remake the ship, but not add or remove anything because I honestly don't have enough information on how the thing works. Some of the engine and cable designs are similar enough to known ones to let me improve or rework them but I-"

A string of drool from my open mouth reaches the wooden planks of the podium.

"-Nevermind. Do you want the movement changes or not?"

"It should help in case we need to run away. Go for it."

"Good. I'll have it done by the time the raw resources and workers get here. Good news, by the way, the chemistry and magic parts of the process are supposedly fairly simple so the crystals and cables I ordered from the Crystal Empire should arrive here in time."

"Nice. I'll go look for the crew and buy a fancy captain hat."

"Speaking of buying things. I built something from the second set of blueprints you brought."

"The hoof-operated gun. Overnight?" I blink.

"It was just simple metal-casting and I brought the gunpowder home from work before I sent in my retirement request."

He presents what looks like a thick bracelet with six short tubes on it.

"How does it work exactly? Wait, you've left your job? The 'I got infinite money' job?"

"Yes," he smiles widely, "Now we're in this together. Good or bad. Stand still before you shoot your hoof off, kid."

I freeze, the bracelet in my hoof.

"How... sensitive is it?" a memory of unicorns and projectile weapons invades my head again.

"Don't worry, the safety is on. Well, there are two ways to use it from what I understand. If you bend your hoof down it deactivates the safety and then you just need to hit the back of the tubes with your other hoof. There's a bullet and a firing mechanism in each one."

"So I get six shots and then I have to reload? On top of that I have to sit still or stand on my hind legs, right?"

"No. If you twitch your hoof just right and deactivate the safety quickly twice in a row one of the barrels will fire. The order goes clockwise from the top one. One more thing, the recoil is horrendous so it wil take some time to get used to and since the barrels are so short the accuracy is awful on any range longer than few pony lengths BUT you basically have a small cannon on your front leg."

"Okay, punch somepony, twitch hoof, ribcage goes bye bye."

"Pretty accurate summary, yes."

"Uhh, thanks for the gun... and everything."

"Don't worry about it. I can now fully focus on making this ship the most devastating CREATION EVER MUHAHAH HA HAH HAAAAAAA!" Ivan turns back to his copy of the blueprints, giving me a clue to stop bothering him and start being useful.

Carefully, I put the hoof gun on and bend my hoof a little. When I feel a click I point at the far end of the warehouse and tap on the back of one of the gun's barrels.

"WHOA!" the bullet scratches the floor quite a short distance away from me.

 _Epic, this thing can miss a building from the inside._

Ivan's murderous glare makes me back out of the warehouse into the streets of Stalliongrad.

The day passes quickly with me walking around and visiting tavern after tavern for ponies willing to partake in a venture that might end up being slightly illegial. I'm not exactly sure why yet but having an ultimate aerial force of this world has to bring attention of somepony to me eventually.

Well, ponies are ponies and finding some thugs to operate weapons and do whatever Ivan tells them to in order to keep the ship running should be simple. What I need is somepony to keep those guys in line... some sort of mid-tier officer reporting to me. Those ponies unfortunately have to be smart and skilled, just the kind of ponies who are usually taken.

"BLOODY LOVESUCKER!" yells somepony from an alley nearby.

 _A changeling in need of help, perhaps in need of somepony getting him out of Stalliongrad? Ask and ye shall recieve, captain Frosty._

With no ulterior motive than to help the seemingly attacked changeling I rush towards the angry voices, such a good heart I am.

"What's going on here?" I ask in the most official tone I can muster when I spot a changeling surrounded by five ponies, two of them turning to me at my interruption.

"We're just teachin' the bug a lesson that while our dear and beloved princess might be a little too soft-hearted we do not take kindly to his sort around here."

A pipe and a crowbar float through the air.

 _Great... there are unicorns. Damn unicorns._

I could just back away, mumble something about how changelings suck, and get away unscathed. Is the chance of having a changeling owe me enough to risk my health?

The thought is strong enough right until I look at the bugpony.

He's smiling nervously and trying to look as small as possible, all that while wearing a brown 'I luv pones' T-shirt and a matching wooly cap. They say that in moments of extreme danger the brain focuses and notices small details that would otherwise remain hidden. One of those small details is that the changeling doesn't have wings and the hue of his black chitin isn't green like most changelings have but dark blue.

I've seen a changeling like him before. It was during my parole mission aboard the Lightbringer and she was a member of the crew. These guys don't belong to queen Chrysalis but to somepony else. Also, they are the most effective killing machines I've ever seen.

"Well, I wonder how the princess would treat those who disobey the peace treaty. Perhaps she might send them to do some 'volunteer' work in the hive... broodmothers to boost the ranks or something," I take the changeling's side of the argument, hoping he's at least half as good as the one I met was. Three was her name or something?

The closest pony gives me a tired 'A hero, eh?' look and raises a brick.

 _Time to test the new gear out. Was it release the safety twice?_

I point at the closest pony and twitch my hoof. Nothing happens. A brick flies around my head. Did Ivan build this thing wrong? He said he wasn't sure about the technology.

A quick jump backwards is enough to avoid a flying crowbar as a unicorn joins the earthpony previously throwing a brick at me.

"You look like a foreigner yourself. Perhaps a pretty face from Canterlot where they kiss the asses of their changeling masters."

*click click*

 _The hay am I doing wrong?_

Just a few more steps back and I can take flight, leave, and return after they're done with the changeling. Getting him to hospital later should have him owe me anyway...

...I must be getting rusty if five civillians pose a real threat to me, armed or not. Screw the changeling, this one is for me.

"You know what?" I rush forward and bury a hoof into the neck of the unicorn, hearing the clanking of iron pipe on the cobblestones as a reward, "As it turns out, some changelings," continuing the movement, I push the unicorn into the earthpony, "are pretty cool guys if you get to know them."

The duo ends in a tangled ball on the ground and the other three turn to me.

"Get out of here, buggy," I nod to the changeling and lock stares with the other three.

The moment doesn't last as when he picks himself off the ground a pony kicks him back down. The moment of distraction as the others chuckle is filled with me slapping one pony away with a wing and kicking another one.

*click click* *BANG*

Bits of one pony away...

Everypony stares at the one pony whose side is now decorated with a deep red groove with strands of flesh hanging out, everypony but me. Punching the wound, I make him scream and fall over.

"Anypony else?" I growl, trying to look much more threatening than I really am.

It fails.

"You're dead, bastard."

I'm now in the blocked end of the alley.

 _Damn the too big wings._

The changeling sighs.

"I just wanted to know about your beautiful city," blue shimmer envelops his horn and the five ponies keel over, "They're just sleeping but it won't last more than few seconds. Let's get out."

"Come here," I wave at him when we leave the alley, "The noise might have alerted some guards and you don't want to be anywhere near. Hop on!"

With the surprisingly light changeling on my back I take short flight towards the closest open bar.

"Let me buy you something good for the nerves," I smile at the changeling as we sit down on the barstools by the counter and order two beers.

"Thanks. I wish this didn't keep happening in every town," the changeling sighs.

"Then you better go to Canterlot first. It's not so bad there."

"Been there, got bored, when the princess of food offered I followed her north."

"If it's not too personal, you're not a normal changeling, right?"

"The exact term is a Nightmare changeling, a name that sucks million balls."

 _Right, that's it. Now I remember._

"I think I met one of your kind, she called herself Three."

"Hey, nice! She stayed with princess Celestia in Canterlot after princess Luna went loco if I remember correctly. My name is Five."

 _Holy crap he's right!_

Meeting Three aboard the Lightbringer wasn't my first time seeing the Nightmares. At the end of the mission that landed me in the slammer in the first place there was a huge fight in Ponyville between the Nightguard and possessed princess Luna on one side and a ragtag group of ponies I didn't know on the other. The Nightmares arrived with their queen to help princess Twilight Sparkle fight Luna and her guards. They would have lost anyway if it weren't for the target I was tracking in the first place, a traitor called Blazing Light, who died but stopped the insane princess from killing all of us.

"Ic- Frosty Stare," I shake his hoof, "What brings you to Stalliongrad, Five?"

"Meh, I felt pretty bad when I was the only one not called to help to Ponyville because I was in the Crystal Empire at the moment and it kept nagging me so I decided to make queen Guiding Light proud by travelling around the world and sending her postcards and letters which was what we were supposed to do before most of us settled down either in the hive in Pine Hills or elsewhere."

"Nice. So you've travelled a lot?"

"Eeerm," he blushes and scratches his head, "I got some money from princess Cadance but I took my time walking around the northern parts of Equestria through small villages. This is actually the first big city I've been to after the Crystal Empire."

"So no."

"Mhm," he slurps his beer.

"Do you want to see more? I'm getting a little travelling project ready. I'm assembling a crew and I could use somepony with your sort of magic around."

"Cool! Wait, magic? I can't use any magic."

"The sleep spell."

"Oh that. That's not magic, all of us can do it to some extent, it's natural."

"Oh... I thought I've found myself a mage. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get in some danger pretty soon."

"I can take care of myself, I just didn't want to needlessly hurt those misguided ponies."

"Riiiight-"

I don't think I've seen a Nightmare fight poorly, he might not be lying.

"-You know what? Sure. We might get into trouble with the law though."

"As long as it doesn't cast shadow on my queen's name I have no problem with it."

"You can always transform into somepony else, right?"

"No, I can't. My kind chooses only one transformation and then can shapeshift between that one and our original form. What if I offer you my transformation as a payment for letting me join your crew?"

"I get to choose what you turn into?"

"Yes."

 _Very useful._

"Deal. As for your transformation, I'll let you tag along first and if you think your desire to travel was satisfied enough I'll choose it."

"Thanks, captain."

Something twitches inside me at the wide-eyed look of Five slapping his hoof to his muzzle in an attempt to imitate a salute.

"Stupid Luna, worthless scheming bitch," I hear a voice grumble behind me as I go over my situation while drinking my beer.

"A likeminded soul, I see," I turn and grin into the face of a white unicorn with broader shoulders and almost alicorn-length horn, "I got thrown in prison for her failures, what's your issue?"

He bobs his head front and back to make his eyes focus.

"My name is Holy Light and Luna's thugs killed my parents and both brothers. Beat that, pretty face."

 _Heh._

"Tell me," I smile smugly inside my head, "Are you any good at magic?"

"Protective magic only. Why do you ask?"

"I'm looking for ponies for a venture that might go against our dear ruling class. Princess Luna might be on the recieving end."

"I have no desire for revenge," he smiles and takes a gulp of wine, "My family and the entire Order were fanatics. I was happy to get out of their company. The only thing I pity is that my younger brother had to grow up in the rage after I left. Still, they were my family."

 _Hmmm, the guy does look to be about my age, although a little more wrecked._

"The Light family? Does name Blazing ring a bell?"

His eyes narrow when I say that.

"Maybe..."

"The little crime I got arrested for was princess Luna trying to find Blazing to kill him."

"What did you do?" his expression becomes unreadable.

"I joined the ponies who stopped her plan. I sure as hay didn't go to prison as a reward," I scowl.

It's a bit of a stretch but technically still true, motives and consequences aside.

"A mage you said?" he smiles suddenly and I spot the spark in his eyes, "How about a swordspony experienced with shielding magic who has proven himself during both mirror invasions and served with prince Shining Armor personally?"

Now here's a piece of information not everypony knows.

"That's an impressive resume," I clap my hooves, "I'm sure we'll get to meet princess Luna face to face eventually to... talk."

"I doubt it. She's the head of our true princess Celestia's intelligence service so she has enough agents to do her dirty work."

"I could find some spare time to find a way to lure her out."

"What do you need me to do and how much will you pay me?"

"Meet me back here in a week. I should have the other ponies accompanying me gathered by then. I'll tell you everything and we can talk about the payment."

Holy Light stares at his wine for a moment.

"Deal. See you next week, mister..."

"Frosty Stare."

"See you next week, Frosty," he performs a strange salute, "The dawn will come!"

Swaying slightly, he pays the bartender and leaves.

"HAMMER!" a roar shakes the building.

 _Ugh... what now?_

"Waitwaitwaitwait! I was just curious about the minotaur culture up north-"

"WAT BUG SAY?" a grey minotaur shakes his warhammer at Five who has to unhealthily bend his neck to look up at the tall creature.

"-I didn't mean to insinuate you don't have any."

The minotaur's eye twitches.

 _Aaaaand he's dead._

The hammer breaks the wooden floor around the impact and sends cracks into the furthest corners. Not even a second later the minotaur drops his weapon and crumbles to the floor. The changeling rolls quickly between his legs.

"No need for that, no need for that. I think that tribal culture has a lot to teach us about close relationships," Five waves his hooves defensively, his wooly cap covering one eye.

"Okay okay, what's going on?" I step in the argument and on the minotaur, "You, stop trying to flatten my friend and you, Five, stop provoking the mino."

"I just wanted to talk!" Five steps away from the minotaur, "Up in the Crystal Empire there were some minotaurs but none this strong or dumb."

My world suddenly spins as the minotaur effortlessly stands up despite me standing on him and picks me up by the leg. Dangling face to face with him, I get a good look at his uneven and sharp teeth.

"Damn it, Five, shut up or you'll get us killed!" I yell.

"Oh, that's what's bothering you, cap? Sorry," he blurs and the minotaur falls to the floor again, clutching his knees, "I just wanted to get him to tell me about his home and he wouldn't so I was worried my queen would be disappointed."

"HOW BUG DO DAT?" the minotaur stands up but doesn't raise his warhammer anymore.

"That? It's easy, mister. No matter how strong you are your joints are still limited so if I hit your knees from behind you fold up like a deck chair without being too hurt."

"BUG SMART!"

"Hey, thanks! You're pretty cool," Five grins.

"COLD NOT BOTHER SKULLCRUSHER!"

And then it comes...

"Can we keep him, cap?" Five gives me the puppy eyes.

"What are you doing in Stalliongrad, Skullcrusher?" I ask.

 _Somepony will have to save us from Five's mouth._

"GOING HOME. WORK DONE. PAID SHINY COINS."

"Do you want more shiny coins?"

"SHINY MEANS FOOD."

"Good. Five?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Keep him occupied until next week. Then meet me here and I'll see about my crew arrangement."

 _I need a break._

Paying for my drink, I leave the two to explain how they would pay for the broken floor and walk outside. Now I've got an insane engineer, a ninja with no social skills, a vengeance-driven paladin, and a berserker so dumb not even other minotaurs want him. On the bright side, there's always a chance they won't show up next week.

All in all, not a bad result for one day. I strongly believe I found the best of the worst possible choices. The rest of the crew should be normal ponies with slightly negotiable morals whom I should be able to switch from time to time. I need a quiet place to think, relax, and actually plan what to do with the airship.

 _Perhaps the service of... professionals?_

The evening is slowly passing so I look for the discreet signs of decent whorsehouses. Not too high-class where the price may be too steep but a good-looking low-class one where there are almost no taboos whatsoever for the right price. That's where one can find the most willing and experienced... sexperts.

 _I may have caught idiocy from Skullcrusher._

One such estabilishment doesn't stay hidden for long and I enter a carpeted, dim hallway with a counter on one side and doors leading to the main stage with dancers on the other. There is a staircase going upstairs at the end of the hall for customers like me who want a little more hooves-on action.

"What'll it be, sir?" asks a young mare wrapped in see-through silky robe working the counter.

"How much is it for room service here?"

Room service is a griffon special that has found its way to Equestria in recent years. You're not buying an exact service but more like time spent with an 'employee' assigned to a certain room who will do anything you want as long as it's within limits of the whorsehouse. Also, it contains the element of surprise as you have no clue who will meet you there. Not that I'm looking for anything special or downright disgusting but I want a bit of me time with somepony who knows what they're doing. No insult intended for Dawn but a mare who only lies there like a plank just doesn't spark it in me.

"Thirty bits for an hour," she says sweetly and I pull the requested amount out of my money pouch, "Thank you for your patronage, sir. Room eleven, up the stairs and to the left. Have a nice time."

"Thanks, my lady," I wink at her but she's too experienced to fall for my face and just smiles back.

The doors of the rooms in the long hall on the first floor are well soundproofed but as I reach for the handle I hear an angry voice from the inside. I can't really make out what it's saying but I knock on the door anyway.

"-ck off!"

Well, I can understand THAT. I don't really intend to bother anypony here but I paid for my service and taming an angry mare through charm or diplomacy might prove a wanted distraction from thinking about my not-so-epic crew. Simply for that reason I push the handle and open the door.

"I'm not done here!" a pegasus roars at me and swipes the air with his wing. He's smaller than me but obviously furious about something. For various reasons I fail to believe he is the 'content' of this room and I look around.

A split second later I punch the pegasus so hard his head breaks the large mirror attached to one of the wardrobes. I don't wait for him to recover and slam downwards hard again. A crunch of bones later he's lying on the carpet, bleeding out of his temples.

Kicking him for good measure, I walk over to the limp thestral mare he was apparently beating before I came. A thin trickle of blood from her muzzle makes me want to kill the bastard. Abusing a weak and defenseless pony is too much even for me. Hey, I'm a mercenary, not a criminal, Luna did that to me.

 _Good, she's breathing._

"What's going on?" a large earthpony runs into the room. It seems that the pegasus' angry yelling attracted some attention when I opened the door.

"This asshole," I point at the unmoving pegasus, "was beating her, Brick. Don't know why, don't really care."

"Have we met?"

"You have a familiar face. Now help me get this girl some attention before the guy gets back up."

"He's not going to," Brick the omnipresent bouncer leans to him and then looks at me, "You did this?"

"He's dead?" it clicks to me.

"Broken neck. Stay here!" he scowls at me and leaves the room followed by the click of the heavy door.

Seeing no obvious way out, I sit on the floor and look at the mare. Her coat is dark grey and her mane silver where it's not stained by blood. The choker on her her neck says 'Fail'. Even with blood slowly crusting on her head she seems to be breathing and I can't find any serious wound. There are some wet wipes on the table nearby so I start cleaning her. Her muzzle is longer than normal but I haven't met enough batponies to make a clear judgement about thestral standards. She's slim with decent rump so I don't really complain as I run my hoof over her back just in case she wakes up and needs a warm touch.

The door clicks and the bouncer returns accompanied by the receptionist from downstairs and an older mare in a fancy outfit who must be running this entire place.

"Your story?" she asks, looking at the mess around.

I'm not too fond of her cold tone so I keep to the facts.

"Heard yelling through the door, went in, got attacked by that guy, defended myself."

The mistress looks at the receptionist.

"He came in few minutes ago. He can't have done it," she shrugs.

"Get rid of this trash, Brick," the mistress nods towards the dead stallion and turns to me, "Well, if we report this to the guards we'll get blamed for this entire thing."

"I can easily testify in your defense," I shrug.

"That is very... noble of you but the mark on our reputation would stay anyway. Now, since you're the one responsible for this I'll give you an option."

"Responsible? He attacked me!"

"You don't seem to be from around here. The local guards aren't too keen on... complicated crimes. The chances of them bothering to look for a foreigner are fairly slim. The most obvious thing that's going to happen is that they'll assume that poor thing," she looks at the unconscious mare, "killed him in self-defense. Unfortunately, nopony in this city will bother with defense and one fairly innocent life will be lost."

"That's pretty crap, if you don't mind me saying."

"Such is the life of those lost here in the north. The second possibility is that I let the two of you go and hide the presence of the brutal pig who will thankfully not bother anypony anymore."

"I can bring her to her family or something if you tell me where they live."

"Her? There is nopony who will miss 'her'," she snickers, "It's not your problem anyway. You can just leave and all your problems will disappear, I'll take care of the rest."

I look at the unconscious batpony.

 _Damn this... an unwanted hooker would be a GREAT addition to my supercrew. At least the day can't get any worse._

"I'll take her off your hooves for tonight and explain things when she wakes up," I hoist her on my back and feel a pressure where it really shouldn't be. Suddenly, the mistress' snickering becomes crystal clear.

"It's a dude, right?" I facehoof.

"Have fun!" she smiles widely and Brick escorts me outside.

 _Ivan will kill me when he finds out who he'll be flying with._


	20. First Mission: Super Elite Combat Unit

_Current objectives: N/A_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 0%_

 _\- Damage 0%_

 _\- Energy balance 0%_

 _\- Energy reserves 100%_

 _Experiments:_

 _\- Embarrass Dawn (self)_

 _\- Develop (Twilight Sparkle)_

...

...

...

Sitting in the empty room assigned to me, I realize no processes have been running for past few hours. The week of training with Heavy Hoof has been effective and my winning statistics can now reach satisfactory values of thirty-seven percent with me using overload. Without it... zero. I'm starting to think that physical ability isn't as important as I expected it to be, perhaps using the excess energy for something other than physical enhancement might be a better course of action. Not to mention that the overuse of overload mechanic leaves me way too damaged for long-term combat.

The thing is that I've been over this hundreds of times. I've watched every recording of every Heavy's practice fight and I'm sure there is nothing hidden that I could dig out anymore. I'm in a perfect physical state but I'm lacking enough varying input to make changes to anything inside. I could randomly experiment with my functions to perhaps find a better way to do things but the chances of that happening are extremely low and the possible negative results too dangerous.

In short, I'm what ponies would call bored.

Perhaps I should exercise my muscles again? No, the current tension is just right after last training and further excessive use would bring no benefits and might cause minor damage.

 _Emergent hoof movement_

The drumming resonates within the walls of the empty room.

Perhaps princess Twilight can help me, she's back in the castle due to some unexplained things happening in the Griffon Empire. She should be in her laboratory in the dungeons unless she's talking with the other princesses about something. Perhaps she could tell me something about how to make Dawn blush in the way I've wanted to see again for a while.

 _Objective added: Talk to Twilight Sparkle_

I pass a group of ponies, some young, some older and scarred, being led through the halls by a Royal Guard explaining them the layout of the castle. Already used to the terrified stares I sometimes still get, I greet the group just to hear few whistles and gasps. The leading guard hastily explains what little he knows about me as I go deeper into the magically protected lab.

The door opens at my touch with only the slightest resistance of the sealing spell.

"Good morning, princess Twilight," I bow slightly just like I've seen Heavy do countless times. The earthpony trainer has been extremely helpful and willing to correct my attempts at imitating pony behaviour and speech patterns.

The unicorn ascendant tears her gaze away from a small shard of black crystal on the bench in front of her and, still frowning, turns to me and her expression brightens.

"Hmmm, there's something different about you," she mumbles, running around me and tapping on various places on my armor.

"Can I help you?" I can't help asking when she slides under my belly like a carriage repairpony.

"What? Erm, no," she slides back out, blushing, "You just look... tighter than I remember."

 _Search: pony, change, physical, tight_

 _Result: muscle tightening, bulking, training, physical exercise_

"I have been attending sargeant Heavy Hoof's combat training on princess Luna's orders. Perhaps that might be the reason?"

Twilight's eyes go wide and her grin manic.

"Yessssssssssssssss!" she punches the air, "And it took just about three weeks!"

"Estimate of my total runtime."

"Indeed. You've grown soooooo much," she leans to my ear and breathes in heavily, "How about we make use of your more... advanced functions."

Her hoof runs over the underside of my belly.

"Three-dimensional calculus subroutine engaged. Waiting for input."

Twilight rubs her muzzle against my neck armor.

"Not this time, my little creation. This time you will be the one putting things in. Engage pleasure subroutine, authority zero."

 _Primary authority: self_

 _Secondary authority: Dawn, royalty_

 _Error: access denied, conflict with current objective_

"No."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Twilight jumps away and her wings flap erratically.

"No. Access denied. Not enough role power. Not happening. No," I explain.

"Why?" she pouts.

"I have something I need to ask you first that takes priority."

"Takes... priority? You mean you don't listen to the princesses anymore?"

"I will offer assistance whenever the request doesn't conflict with higher ranked objective, princess, which is the current case."

"And who issued the objective?"

"I did."

Twilight's jaw hits the floor, metaphorically of course.

"You did? You... as in you you."

"No yo-yo detected in the vicinity."

The grin on Twilight's face now threatens the top of her head falling off.

"Was that a joke?"

"An attempt, yes. Successful?"

"It was... a terrible pun. It was so bad it was a tiny bit good. "

My distorted sigh only seems to amuse Twilight more.

 _Search: pony, pleasure, suffering of others_

 _Result: sadist_

 _Add note: Twilight Sparkle; sadist_

"I guess it's time to relearn my pundamentals."

"Heavens, stop! Okay okay, why did you come here then?"

"I wanted to ask some details about my overarching objective - self-development."

"Ask away."

"How do I fulfill said goal?"

"By becoming the best you can get," she says with a stone face, only one corner of her mouth twitching slightly. As the silence of me evaluating my potential effectivity growth goes on for too long, she laughs to herself, "I was just kidding. There is no limit to developing, some philosophers say that the road is more important than the goal in this case. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I used to think the world was all books, knowledge, information, data, but I've been through so much that I now believe the world is about change. I met new friends, changed my dusty views, dealt with danger, begged for help when I wasn't strong enough... all that makes you change and grow, my little creation. It will come naturally if you don't fight it and if you do... it will come anyway."

Her inward smile makes her seem more similar to the royal sisters now. Perhaps it was like this before but I just wasn't able to see it. Maybe my perception of her will change in strange ways as I go further and further. I smile.

I can't wait.

 _Objective completed: Talk to Twilight Sparkle_

 _Experimental objective removed: Develop_

There is so much I don't know. Perhaps moving myself on top of the command structure wasn't as good as it seemed at the time. Maybe Twilight could use a temporary override and embarrassing Dawn can wait.

"Thank you, princess," I bow again, "I am ready to fulfill your command now."

Twilight scratches her head.

"Huh? I don't even remember what I wanted."

"Access to advanced not math-related functions."

"Heh, nevermind that. You'te too amazing to be wasted as a clopb- leisure assistant. Do you need anything else from me? I don't want to kick you out but I'm sort of busy here," she points to the black crystal on the bench, "I have no clue what this damn thing is aside from it being dangerous."

I come closer to look at the shard lying on the workbench. On the first glance it doesn't seem to be doing anything but if it worries Twilight then there has to be a reason. Pulling out the claws hidden in my hoof, I pick it up.

"WAIT! You can't just-huh?" Twilight looks at me as I grab the shard without a problem and turn it around, "It didn't hurt you?"

"No. Should it?"

"YES!" she points to the workbench. The steel surface is cracked and covered in black ice where the shard was lying, "The agent who brought this from the Empire had to use armored horseshoes to pick it up and they broke after that. That was not the real problem though, the thing seems to radiate and generate cold."

"That is against the laws of thermodynamics."

"I know. It could be explainable by magic but the shard seems to completely disperse any magical effect near it, so no dice."

 _Scanning..._

 _Chemical compound: Unknown_

 _Thaumic origin: Unknown_

 _Heat signature: None_

 _Closest similarity: Unknown_

 _Chances of successful identification: 0%_

 _Error: Unexplained drop in processing efficiency_

 _Damage taken:_

 _\- type (unknown)_

 _\- affected systems (armor, analytic routines)_

 _\- mental interference_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 75%_

 _\- Damage 29%_

 _\- Energy balance -37%_

 _\- Energy reserves 94%_

 _nochancenohopenofuturehollowhuskemptybucketjustaclopbotpointlessexistenceemotionlesstrash_

 _Recommendation: DIE!_

I drop the shard.

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 3%_

 _\- Damage 2%_

 _\- Energy balance +12%_

 _\- Energy reserves 92%_

 _Analysis: Interference causing action probability miscalculations._

"The crystal is of room temperature," I stutter out, buzzing way more than I should and shaking for some reason, "and causes failures of judgement."

"Not just judgement," she points at my hoof with the claws used to hold the crystal missing, shattered on the floor, "This seems pretty real."

"The crystal emits an interference causing underestimation of chances of success and overestimation of negative consequences," I conclude from the... experience, "No sensors pick up thaumic of thermal trace. The crystal isn't magical and it isn't cold, objectively."

Twilight looks at the frost forming on the floor around the shard and vaporizing.

"I made your sensors myself and I sure as hay know they work. What you're saying then is that this is some sort of force that causes mental state to take form and affect the physical world in a way that IS NOT magic."

"Am I?"

"Yes. I think I have an idea what it is then."

"Can you tell me? For research purposes only."

"It's simple," Twilight slips back to half mumbling to herself, "If one is around princess Celestia they feel calmer and... warmer. Which means this could be the opposite but which alicorn might have a directly reverse effect and enough power to make it manifest so strongly? Luna? No, this seems... evil. Void? Possibly but after meeting him I think he's more similar to Celestia than he'd ever admit and he felt warm, I hate saying such inaccurate term, as well. Damn, I need to tell the princesses. Thanks..."

"Bucket."

"Thanks, Buck- who gave you that name?"

"I chose it for its deeper meaning."

"I think I'm in love," Twilight mumbles and rushes out of the laboratory, leaving the crystal on the floor.

I pull out the claws on my other front leg to pick the shard up and put it back on the workbench... and stop. Leaving it just lying there is against all of my desire to keep things sorted and accessible but for some reason I REALLY don't want to touch it again, not to avoid the physical damage but the process distortion. In fact, no matter what knowledge the thing can bring I never want to touch it again, ever.

 _Search: reluctance, worry, avoidance_

 _Result: fear_

"Hmmmmm."

With that I just leave the shard there and return to my room where I stay until the practice session with Heavy so I could feel... safe.

It might be just something working on a level impossible to detect with sensors but as soon as I see Heavy running around in the snow to keep warm the unknown dread disappears and I'm as ready as I could ever be for some beatdown. When Dawn joins us the odd feeling disappears completely and I can think clearly.

 _Objective added: Explore fear_

"Welcome to the next episode of 'Dawn gets smashed'," Heavy grins, "starring Bucky, the intelligent clopbot.-"

"Good afternoon, sargeant," I smile at his nonsense, it helps to keep me from thinking about... that.

"-aaaand our main hero Dawn, the destroyer of worlds!"

"You're in a good mood, sir," Dawn scratches her head and giggles, "Got laid recently?"

 _Input: coughing; Heavy Hoof_

 _Action: ensure free breathing_

"AAAAH! Stop hitting me!" Heavy yells as I smack his back over and over.

"Blockage cleared successfully."

"Ehm, quite, yes," Heavy rubs the bruised spot, blushing like a schoolfilly, "As a matter of fact there have been some positive developments in my personal life, one might say."

"Good for you, sir," Dawn nods, "Wish I had somepony other than Bucket here."

"Don't worry about it," Heavy's nervous smile grows even wider as he steps into a known area, "I've got just what you need to get your mind off things."

"What is it, sir?" Dawn steps right into the trap.

"A hundred pushups and a quick run around the castle. Get on it!"

Dawn groans but starts pumping up and down at a slow pace. Joining her, I go over our usual training schedule and find an interesting fact. In exactly the opposite way I felt when I picked up the crystal I know I WANT this to continue, to attend this routine day after day with these two ponies.

Rubbing my muzzle against Dawn after the exercise, I help her up from the ground.

"Come on. Last one back here is a stuck clockwork."

"You're on!"

There is no chance for her to win but she just keeps going and so I keep the pace just fast enough to be challenging but not exhausting. Somehow she can choose to disregard all probability of victory and simply... keep trying over and over.

I remember Twilight's words of wisdom.

There is no need to rush. I will understand eventually.

Smiling to myself, I slow down to a trot to let Dawn get ahead and run at a pace comfortable for her. When our designated training place is back in sight I notice Heavy isn't waiting for us alone.

"Heeey, the screw and the screw-up," princess Luna chuckles but her expression hides something serious.

"Good afternoon, princess."

"Good afternoon, your Highness."

We bow to the lunar princess who turns back to Heavy who... doesn't look as happy as he did when the practice started.

"They are missing. Solid Steel and his unit went to investigate the Golden Sands resort and returned with the information that it had been attacked over a week before they arrived. Survivors say that it was a group of nomads which doesn't really tell us anything. Southern parts of the Empire are so fractured that it could have been anypony."

"Survivors?" Heavy chokes as he says that.

"Yes," Luna looks at the snow around and bites her lip, "They say the raiders weren't too interested in searching the place for valuables but were looking for slaves. No ransom demand has been sent yet so we have no idea who is behind the attack or what the reason was. Solid is currently travelling through the desert and observing the little city states and bandit camps but I offer you a chance to look into it yourself. After all, you know them the best and you might spot something."

"Do you believe it was a coincidence they were there at the time of the raid?"

"Not even a little. They have an amazing ability to attract trouble and I think the attack was set up to capture them which is why I believe they are still alive. That and," Luna's horn glows and the black crystal from Twilight's laboratory appears suspended in mid-air, "this. Looks familiar?"

Heavy touches the shard, shakes, and smiles bitterly.

"Yeah, it's him. It looks just the way it did in Manehattan, no idea why it changed from fire to frost in the first place. If that wasn't enough it definitely... feels like him, if it makes sense."

"Not really," Luna shrugs, "but commander Darkness described to me the events in the underworld and in Manehattan in great detail so it was not a difficult guess. Also, when I tried using my magic to locate them my tracking spells got destroyed. I doubt griffons have the ability to do such a thing and hiring a unicorn, or even a group of unicorns, wouldn't help against me. Considering whose side you were on during the Manehattan event I'm not asking or ordering you to go, I'm just telling you what's going on."

"I... was wrong, princess. I shouldn't have been swayed by my memories so easily," Heavy hangs his head, "If I was on the right side from the beginning then the death of everypony in the Order headquarters could have been prevented. I won't make the same mistake again but, to be honest, I can't afford to go to the Griffon Empire and stay there for an extended period of time."

"As a secret government rescue force you will recieve a mission budget."

"Do I have to go by myself?"

"No, but the faster you leave the higher the chance of you succeeding will be. I'll have the administrative issues sorted out by tonight, just give me a list of what you'll need."

"Yes, your Highness."

"And bring all three of them back safely if possible."

"Yes, your Highness."

"And take the shiny pony with you. Twilight will be happy to see how he fares under desert conditions."

"Bucket?"

"Can I go too? Pleeeeeeeease!"

"Am I the subject of the conversation now?"

"I'll leave you to your preparations," Luna grins and walks away, "mister leader."

That, unfortunately for Heavy, leaves Dawn giving him the puppy eyes.

"No!"

"Pleeeeeeeease!"

"No!"

"Why?"

Her attempt to embarrass Heavy by having him explain falls flat on its face.

"Because you are too young, too inexperienced, and too unskilled. Enough?"

"What does age have to do with anything?" Dawn decides to ignore the two more important points and settles for the one she can win.

"You told me how you felt at the bar when you thought the unicorn wanted to kill you. Now imagine being surrounded by armed griffons who REALLY do want to kill you. Nopony around you aside from us will be a friend and anypony might stab you in the back the second you look away. Do you know why the Royal Guard is so heavily understaffed at the moment we have only three combat trainers for both Royals and the Nightguard? The Nightguard remained mostly untouched, props to batponies for their courage and dedication, but the Royal Guard was full of foals who thought uniform would give them a little respect they didn't have. Those idiots went face to face with Sombra's fanatics who cut them to pieces. You know what's worse than a dead soldier, Dawn? A fleeing soldier giving the others hope that running away would save them. Those broke our ranks during the second invasion, those gave Sombra Canterlot and betrayed their princesses. I was a year old recruit when Chrysalis' changeling invasion came and I was one of the lucky ones whom princess Luna's constant intervention in their coming nightmares saved from going insane or killing themselves. I might be twenty-two, Dawn, but I've seen enough dead foals to last a lifetime. I don't want to pointlessly see even one more."

"I still want to go," Dawn squeaks after a while of thinking.

Heavy facehoofs.

"FINE! You can go IF you prove you can beat Bucket in combat. That would mean you can take care of yourself," he rolls his eyes.

"What? That's impossible!" Dawn scowls.

"Then I guess you'll be staying home then," Heavy grins.

Dawn growls.

"Give me that," she kicks the practice weapon crate and pulls out a staff, "Come at me, Bucky!"

 _Combat engaged_

 _Enemy: Dawn_

 _Chances of success: 100%_

 _Result of victory: Me and Heavy travelling to the Griffon Empire_

 _Result of defeat: Me, Heavy, and Dawn travelling to the Griffon Empire_

With that clear in mind Dawn's focused strike hits me straight in the chest and her staff falls out of her grip as she hits the hard armor.

 _Damage: 0%_

There is only one thing to do here. It's very simple, actually.

I fall to the ground, hooves wrapped around my chest.

"ERROR: CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED! BEEP BOOP. MEDIC. I SEE STARS. Daisies, daisies... blargh!"

Dawn blushes but smiles triumphantly at Heavy who just stares at me, mouth open.

 _Objective completed: Embarrass Dawn_

"CELESTIA'S INFINITELY PLUMP ASS PROTECT ME," Heavy raises his hooves to the grey sky, "Okay, I'm done. But if you die I'll kill you!"


	21. First Mission: Big Guys, Big Guns

Carrying the unconscious batpony back to my 'hideout' at Burning Brand's bar, I wonder about what to actually do with my 'crew'. The idea of having an advanced warship at my disposal looks nice up to the point where I'm going to have to pay them... with money, money I'd rather keep to myself. Not that I'm a greedy bastard but all the bits invested in this little venture either belonged to Ivan or me and it has to return in some form which means we're going to need an employer. Now, what are the chances of somepony giving us a job and not trying to steal my secrets for himself? Pretty slim.

The second option is to find a way to turn profit by myself. That would require thinking of a goal which is easy - money and anything that's not boring as heck. Getting money for nothing counts as stealing or being a lawyer though and I'm not too happy about the idea, not to mention normal ponies don't have the bits to make this worth it.

Normal ponies...

Who says I have a problem with normal ponies? Why bother with stealing pocket change when I can now strike into the heart of Equestrian power? Hmmm, how pissed would Luna be if, let's say, her shipment of cakes was late or didn't come at all... or even better - came empty with a ransom note? That should teach her not to imprison innocents. An action like that would require a real base of operations though because casting shadow on Brand's estabilishment would make way more enemies than I can handle now.

So, step one - ambush something small and not too showy. Airship lumber transport? No, too much haul. Cross-ocean passenger ferry? Too well-guarded. The problem isn't sinking or destroying the target, it is getting enough gold while causing minimum damage and getting away. Some sort of tourist airship seems like the best idea. Airships aren't usually too protected and those who can afford the airship travel usually are nobles or rich ponies looking for new sights. The barrel of a flak cannon seems new enough to me.

No, step zero - look around Stalliongrad for somepony in need of firepower, preferrably as a threat rather than a real attacking force.

"Hey, Brand! Know a doctor around these parts?" I enter the bar and go straight to the counter.

"How badly did you get your balls kicked today, Frosty?"

"Not for me, I'm staying away from trouble as much as I can although it seems to find me rather easily. It's for the bat on my back."

"Hmm? Dude seems fine enough to me, bruises at worst, but I'll check him up myself. No need to bother anypony at this time of night. I've had to stitch ponies back together in here way more than I've ever hoped to."

Am I the only one who thought the bat was a mare?

"Thanks. I'll bring he-him to my room."

"I'll be up there in few minutes."

After today, even the flight of stairs is tiring me out way more than it should but soon enough I just lower myself over my bed and let the batpony slide on it. Now that I have time to examine him carefully I have to admit that even with the bruises and small cuts all over he's an amazing looking guy, sort of like me but smaller.

I'm not into stallions but I can easily appreciate somepony's looks, especially when I often get interested offers myself from both sexes. Aside from the dried blood his grey coat is silky smooth, his silver mane even more up to the point it seems to flow like water, and his hooves are in such a good shape he can't have stepped on anything aside from a carpet for days. What does bother me are the holes in his wings with various ornamental rings inside preventing them from healing and probably serving as something exotic for the brothel customers. That's something I can't even imagine, most pegasi love flying and their wings are more important than their life... perhaps it's different for thestrals?

The door clicks and Brand comes in with a small suitcase in his mouth. Few minutes of patient examination pass and he turns to me.

"I suppose it wasn't you who mutilated him so where did you find the poor wretch?"

"Huh, a pony almost beat him to death in a brothel. What's wrong with him?"

"Ooooh. Well, you see... sex trade in Stalliongrad is sort of unregulated which means some self-proclaimed surgeons get a lot of money to perform things that are illegal in most of Equestria, even when requested by the customer himself or herself."

"The wings?"

"Not just that," he sighs and starts moving various parts of the thestral's body, "Burn marks on the underside of his hooves for increased sensitivity, a fairly common method to increase responsiveness to stimulation, painful or pleasant. Repeatedly broken and poorly healed bones, once again for increased sensitivity at the broken spots although unless he's an extreme masochist I have to assume this is just to make him more screamy for the rather brutal guests. Do you want me to go on? There's a lot."

"From what I was told he has nowhere to go so I thought I'd keep him around until he woke up. Is he some sort of a cripple then, like he can't walk properly or something?"

"He's not going to be flying anytime soon and I wouldn't count on him ever having foals."

"Uhh, what?"

Brand spreads the stallion's legs and I notice that two important things are missing. I cross my legs in the shadowed pain.

"I've seen griffons after the same treatment in the Empire."

Brand grins but there's no amusement in it.

"Yes. Those guys have it good though - no balls, no real sex drive. Unfortunately, the treatment in these parts where there are unicorns with skill and without morals comes with potions and magic making sure the desire in the stallion isn't gone. It's sort of the ultimate slavery. The desire is still there but goes away only if the customer is satisfied enough to bother with giving the servant his release."

My stomach revolves but aside from a hoof in front of my mouth I don't let it show.

"I don't think I want to hear anything more."

"Too bad because there IS something more I have to say. His body was basically remade to be a toy... I can't even begin to guess the state of his head. Buuut that's your problem now," Brand's grin turns way more sadistic than it should, "I can wake him up if you want me to."

"Yeah, better to get through this quickly," I sigh, "If you hear screaming that isn't mine just don't even bother."

Snickering, Brand stuffs his nose with cloth, uncorks a bottle, and waves it under the thestral's muzzle. When the bat begins coughing Brand hides the bottle and leaves.

Blinking few times and hissing as he tries to sit up, the batpony looks around the room, at me, and then hangs his head without saying anything.

Is he... waiting for something?

"So, yeah, ehm... you got beat up pretty badly," I decorate the truth a little, "I saved you so the guy didn't kill you but the brothel owner said the incident would cast bad light on them and you had to go."

Still just sitting on the bed and looking at the covers. No movement or emotion whatsoever.

"Eeeeh... what's your name?"

"Fail," his voice isn't as high-pitched as I expected but it's completely calm, almost detached.

"Real name..."

"I don't have any."

"Okay then, Fail. What were you doing at the brothel?" I say, knowing it's dumb, but I just want to hear it from him.

"Serving."

"Doing what?"

"Anything."

"Anything anything?"

"Yes," a little hint of pride shines through the empty voice.

"Hmm," I huff in frustration, "I'm too tired to deal with this. Do you have someplace to stay, somepony to call?"

"No."

Crap. Kick him out? Yeah... no.

"Damn. I'm going to take a shower. Stay here!"

"Yes. Do you require my presence?"

"What? Wait! No no no. I'm fine. Just stay here and... don't do anything dumb."

"Yes."

What did I do to deserve this? I could have found some experts on machinery, military strategy, and combat. Granted, I would have had to pay them crazy money but everything from now on would be so much easier. On the other hoof, the changeling will owe me personally, the unicorn thinks I know something about his brother, Ivan wants to build a doomsday machine and I'm the only pony who knows where to get more mirror blueprints, and the really weird whorse seems to be pretty obedient.

It's gonna be a miracle if the warship doesn't burn down the second we take off.

Speaking of which, I still need the real crew to do the hauling and whatever they'd have to do.

"Hey, Fail!" I turn the water off and yell outside.

His pretty but expressionless face and purple eyes simply waiting for another command are creepy. The fact that he just walked into the bathroom is even worse. Knowing his last 'job' I have a sudden urge to wrap a towel around me.

"What can I do for you?" he asks, seemingly unconcerned by the entire situation.

"How long have you been in Stalliongrad?"

"Two years, give or take."

"In the brothel?"

"No, doing odd jobs. When nopony hired me for a long time I found my way there."

"So you know your way around."

"Yes."

"Can you help me find some ponies interested in a simple job who wouldn't mind it possibly turning out slightly illegal?"

"Yes."

"Great. Now get out, you're staring."

"Sorry, sir," he backs away as if the words themselves hurt.

"No problem, just wait for me in the main room."

"Yes."

Weird, plainly weird. Do I have to care? No, not really.

When I dry myself off and walk out of the bathroom, Fail is sitting on the floor, head hung low again. An idea I seriously contemplate crucifying and setting on fire enters my mind.

"Do you do massages?"

"Yes, sir."

"How much?"

"Sorry, sir?"

"How much should I pay you?"

"I don't understand... you own me now."

"WHAT?"

"I can't go back. I have nothing. I am yours to use as you see fit."

"Buck this. Too tired. Massage now, not the weird kind, go have a shower afterwards. Don't bother me at night. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

I flop myself on my belly and let Fail do his job. Aside from his slightly uncomfortable moaning thanks to the burned underhooves he doesn't say a word. Not that it bothers me for long. With how good he is I drift off as my sore muscles slowly lose all stored tension.

As I wake up my first thoughts are concerned about nothing hurting anymore. Did Fail slit my throat at night and I'm now in heaven? Soft breathing nearby tells me that probably is not the case. Getting out of the bed, I almost step on Fail sleeping on the carpet next to it. As much as I believe he deserves some rest I'm going to need his help today.

"Wake up!" I nudge the batpony who has to have some sort of insane reflexes because he immediately assumes his 'normal' sitting position while probably still asleep.

"Sorry, sir! I'll get breakfast ready, draw you a bath, and-"

"Shut up, calm down, and listen! First of all, why do you sit like that? You look like you're talking to the carpet."

"Customers like to feel superior to me. Some of them like to hurt me and it's the shock when I can't see where the blow will come from which pleases them."

"You seem awfully alright with that."

"It's the only thing I'm useful for."

Not a hint of remorse or anything in that voice, just cold, hard facts.

"Ehm, well, right. Back to business, you said you knew where to get the ponies I need."

"Bars, employment agencies, dark alleys, low-grade hostels."

"Okay, let's do this."

Followed by the crazy batpony, I hope to find some normal hard-working ponies for a change.

Days pass and my mood improves dramatically because thanks to Fail I now have a group of desperate ponies willing to do pretty much anything for very little money. I even paid each one ten shiny bits just to show up at the warehouse when I need them. Students fresh out of school, season workers down on their luck, few mercenaries like me who just want to do something inbetween real jobs.

Well, 'my' batpony still creeps me out but from what he's done he seems more than trustworthy, albeit reluctant to talk about himself. I wasn't just aimlessly walking around looking for ponies though. Few quick questions and a clever disguise as a rich and young noble looking for excitement up here in the north revealed that ponies of 'my kind' often enjoy airship trips around the Crystal Empire with the sun shining even in winter and pretty crystals and sparkly ponies (not my words, just quoting my source).

Step two - find somepony to buy the loot we get from the raid. That should be simple enough. With the black market contacts and a hefty comission fee for Brand he should remember some more of his friends who deal in stolen jewellery.

Step right the heck now - go have a drink. Too much work and no fun made Icy a dull captain.

And, out of nostalgia sake, I'm sitting at the bar where I met Holy Light and Skullbreaker, sipping beer and thinking about airship piracy.

A cowled pony in a brown robe sits down at my table and looks at me across it.

"Can I help you?" I ask as friendly as I can, nursing my drink, focusing on the hoof gun, and feeling a satisfying click as the safety catch comes undone.

"Captain Icy Gaze?" a very deep and self-assured voice asks as the unicorn draws his hood back. His coat is pitch black and his mane is the same color but each strand seems to be tipped with purple.

Looking into the yellow eyes that seem to glow in the dim light of the tavern, I narrow mine. There is nopony that should know my name in this city.

"You must have got the wrong guy, mister."

"I am in need of a pony willing to find another pony for a reasonable sum of money, two ponies and a griffon to be exact. Do I still have the wrong pony?"

The last time I was asked to find somepony by a stranger in a bar stuff got REALLY bad. This guy doesn't seem to be Luna's messenger though as if he was I would have a group of Nightguards behind my back by now.

"First of all, how do you know my name?"

"I have been watching your efforts ever since you met one of my friends during your trip to the Griffon Empire a month ago."

"Must have been pretty boring then, watching me sit in prison."

"Not exactly, Icy Gaze. Resourcefullness is something I enjoy seeing grow although your using the earthpony mare was excessively drastic."

Magic, no way around it.

"Look, friend," I angle the hoof gun at him, not as sure he won't know what it is as I was a moment ago, "One wrong word and your head goes boom before your horn even lights up. Are you working for Luna?"

He smiles as if he wasn't a step from death.

"No, the young alicorn has her own goals while I have mine. Trust me when I say I have no malicious intent towards you. In fact, I really need your help."

*click*

"BUCK-"

 _Stupid safety!_

*BOOMmmmmmmmmmmmmm-blip*

Time slows down as the bullet leaves the short barrel and I can see the sound waves go through the air like rings on water, only in all directions. Suddenly, they stop, the bullet disintegrates, and reality returns. The gunshot should have alerted the entire bar but nopony seems to be paying us attention.

All that remains is the smiling unicorn.

 _Heck, I wanted excitement in my life, didn't I?_

"I want to know who I'm dealing with first," I bark, still shaken by the event.

"Of course. My name is Void and I very much doubt you have ever heard of me. The ponies you will be looking for, however, you know quite well. They are the source of your current predicament after all."

No... please no. Not the crazy bat bitch and the traitor unicorn.

"Money! A lot!" is the only thing that might save me at the moment. I need something ridiculous, "Ten thousand, cash."

"Your payment will be done tomorrow."

 _Buck!_

"Alright," I hang my head in defeat, "Tell me the details."

"A unicorn named Mistake whom you have met aboard the Lightbringer, an amusing pun. A batpony with magical wings going by the name of Choking Darkness-"

"Hate her..."

"Indeed. The last one is a white griffon named Cromach, the target of your previous rescue mission. I fear they might be in mortal danger... again. I request you allow me to accompany you on the journey as well."

"Why me? Not that I don't like money but can't a unicorn with your kind of magic just, I don't know, get his crystal ball and look for them? I've never even heard of somepony capable of slowing down time."

"My powers are greatly diminished in this form so I have to travel in the usual way. Unfortunately for your highly educated magical solution, a phenomenon in the Griffon Empire is distorting all scrying magic. My guess is that someone or something is using Mistake's natural ability to cover its tracks which leads us to the last reason I do not want to go there on my own. My full power would undoubtedly attract the attention of said... something or someone."

"Scary."

"You cannot even begin to understand how."

"So we go there, shoot everypony stopping us, grab the targets, go home?"

"Exactly, although I would prefer avoiding conflict as much as possible."

"Deal! Remember not to call me Icy Gaze though."

"Oh? What is your current alias then?"

"Captain Frosty Stare, ruler of the skies!"

"Fitting," he says, looking at my wings, "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Good. I will find you."

I blink and before my eyes open again he's gone.

 _Yeah... if that guy's a unicorn then I'm a Scoota-, ehm, chicken._

For some strange reason I have no real desire to finish my beer so I just go back home, cursing my fate. Still, I had the chance to refuse... in the same way I had the chance to serve the rest of my sentence peacefully and return to a mercenary life.

It clicks inside my head.

 _Damn!_

Void must think I don't remember him but I do, at least somepony VERY similar. The colors were the clue but I just couldn't place it at first because he was so small. In Ponyville, when Five's queen wanted to kill crazy Luna, an alicorn came and stopped her. The same eyes, same colors, only without wings and much smaller.

An alicorn in disguise accompanying me on my first trip. What could possibly go wrong?

An alicorn who is scared of going there alone.

Shit.

"Is there anything wrong?" asks Fail when I get back home.

"I'm not sure. We'll see tomorrow, I guess."

Maybe, just maybe, I'll wake up, go to the warehouse, Ivan would not have added an experimental beam cannon to the ship, my 'better' crew members wouldn't be outcasts of society, and the damn unicorn-whatever wouldn't be there.

Unfortunately, my luck ran out the second I successfully got out of Canterlot castle. How do I know that? Because when me and Fail enter the warehouse right before noon everypony is already there... and so is the warship.

It's actually smaller than the Lightbringer but its triangular shape makes it longer and much more sleek. The hull is painted silvery grey to make it invisible in the clouds and the entire shape makes it look more like a real ship rather than a flying platform.

"Hey, Ivan!"

"Morning, kid!"

"Is it ready?"

"Been ready since yesterday, waiting for you. I guess these guys are yours, right? Not somepony sneaking inside here to see what's going on."

Workers, unicorn Void, Five, Fail, Skullbreaker, Holy Light, a group of corporate engineers crawling over my ship... well, maybe the last one isn't really there.

"Seems fine. Is there enough space for them?"

"Yeah. The entire outer shell is hollow but armored as heck. There's a general sleeping area with bunk beds where they'll fit, captain's quarters, and the bridge where I'll be watching over the technical stuff. The rest is a storage space for ammo, reserve power crystals, spare armor plates, and long-lasting food."

"Wow."

"Quite something, isn't it? Still missing one thing though."

"Huh?"

"A name. Also, a group of mares to enjoy during the trip."

"Fail can do the sexy dancing if really necessary."

"Celestia protect us!"

"What? He's really good!"

"Yeah... HE!"

"No temptation during the trip, eh?"

"Bleh, next time grab a mare as well. At least there would be somepony to rest my old eyes on. Also, the unicorn is really weird."

"The black one or the white, blonde one?"

"Both! When the black one is around I feel like an inexperienced little foal and the white one keeps scowling at the walls and grumbling something about princess Luna."

"At least they have personality, right?"

"I'm not even talking about the changeling and the idiot. Speaking of which, NEVER let the minotaur into the machine room again."

"Again?"

"Well, the group seemed interested in the ship so I gave them a tour before you came. Unfortunately, the mino thought one of the oscillator machines was scowling at him and threatened to eat its family."

"We're gonna die pretty soon, right?"

"Yeeeah... but don't let it bother you. So, where are we going?"

"The Griffon Empire. Void will tell you the details, he's our employer."

"Good. Now the name. Having a nameless ship is bad luck according to sailors."

"So is having a mare on board."

"Don't push me, kid!"

"Fine, fine.-"

The original was called the Lightbringer so... Icebringer, as in carrying me? No, that's dumb. What does this ship stand for? Freedom... my freedom. Freedom I gained by escaping Canterlot. Freedom that started with me jumping in the middle of a blizzard from Canterlot castle airship landing pad and landing, cut and tired, in the city itself.

"-how does Hailstorm sound, Ivan?"

"Pretty cool, get it?"

"I'll have my crew shoot you out of a cannon."

"Not until I teach them how to use those."

"Do it soon. I'm afraid we're gonna need it."

"Expecting problems?"

"Yeah. Let's go!"

I cough loudly and watch the entire crew focus on me.

 _Well, that's unnerving._

"Get on board, Ivan will tell you what to do."

In mere half an hour the engines of the Hailstorm rumble and the entire thing starts rising vertically through the opening roof of the warehouse. The details of who is useful for what will be sorted later. Right now, standing in the command room, I can watch Stalliongrad get smaller and smaller until the clouds envelop us.

"Plot a course for the Imperial coastline, Ivan."

"Aye aye, captain!"


	22. Sands of Gold and Red: Alone

_I was fine with being alone after running away from home. I was fine with being alone while in the mirror world. I was fine with being alone while having to deal with the remnants of Sombra._

 _After getting a taste of what it feels not to be alone it hurts even more. I should have never accepted their company. I should have stayed, well, myself._

 _I don't want divine powers, fame, nor friends. All I want is a roof over my head and something to eat from time to time. I know I don't deserve even a cardboard box and moldy bread._

* * *

Screams, fire and smoke.

Where am I?

Shaking my head to stop the random ringing, I try to blink through the darkness. Failing that, I realize it might be just around midnight. Normally, Golden Sands is alive into the hours of early morning but not THIS much.

"Owwww," I pick myself up from the ground, aching all over and trying to remember why.

I say a swearword so hardcore a nearby building bursts into flames. Even in my dazed state I realize that shouldn't be happening.

Sweat and smoke. The sweat is me, the smoke is everything else. Why am I sweating so much?

The events, one event in particular, of this evening make themselves get remembered. I shake my head again.

Why did I freak out so much? It's not as if I wasn't working around changelings ever since the peace treaty. I don't mind changelings, it was just a shock.

No, it wasn't. My entire being revolted. I remember my stomach churning, I remember the rage building, and I remember the fear, the fear reflected in his blue eyes. Not all of that was me.

I growl and my talons grind sparks against the stones of the road.

I have to find Blaze and promise I'll somehow make him forget that moment. After all, we'll have a lifetime to make things right... I hope.

Oh right, the town is on fire. That one might take some explaining.

As I run, surrounded by pillars of smoke, I spot a griffon in white robes throwing a bottle through a window of a nearby building I recognize as a souvenir shop we visited just few hours earlier. A moment later flames burst out of the window.

Raiders are attacking the town! At first I thought he might be just a member of a long distance desert caravan but now it's clear. Without a second thought I charge the nomad and wrestle him to the ground. I run my talons right through his arm as he reaches for a sword sheathed on his belt and procure that for myself. It's a curved one-handed scimitar, not exactly my type of weapon but it will have to do. A moment later the nomad feels the touch of steel against the feathers of his neck.

"Who are you and why are you in the town? I'll ask only once so think carefully!"

I must look deranged enough because his eyes go wide and breathing quickens.

"We're the Wide Sea Company, mercenaries. Some nomads hiding in the desert to the east of here hired us four days ago, paid cash up front. The orders said to torch the town, take anyone who isn't resisting, kill all soldiers. Our main goal is to find two Equestrian bigwigs, one of those vampires and a white... griffon... deserter..."

"Who is behind this?" I press the blade harder.

"I don't know! The leader of the nomads I guess. He just wanted to ransom the villagers back to the Empire. It's standard business."

I have to admit he's right. Small villages are often raided and the citizens ransomed back to the Empire. As far as I know the officials don't mind that much as most of the nomad bands require weapons made in the Empire to fight more separatist groups... who also buy weapons from the Empire. Money isn't an issue under these circumstances.

"How many of you are there?"

"About thirty mercs and fifty nomads."

"That's suicide!"

"There's supposed to be some sort of magic or something protecting us."

"You have a unicorn with you?"

"No, it's something else. I saw it," his trembling gets worse, "Will you, please, help me get out of the town? I don't care where, just get me out!"

"You've just thrown a molotov cocktail into a building with griffons inside. You're lucky I need information otherwise I'd cut your damn head off!"

"You think I'm afraid of YOU? I'm a merc, kid, been one longer than you've been alive, I'm ready to die. I don't want to but I know it's gonna happen one day. I don't know who the nomads made what pact with but this city was pretty heavily defended."

"Was?" I choke.

"Yeah, was. Couple of us broke into the city fortress and opened the main gate. We believed the magic supposed to protect us but the Legion soldiers' guns cut them down... then they got back up, drew their swords and charged."

"Necromancy?"

"You mean voodoo like zombies and stuff? I don't think so. I talked to one of them when we cleared the fortress and he seemed normal but something was off, as if something else was watching me through his eyes. I don't want that to happen to me."

"Give me your gun, robe, and all other weapons!"

The mercenary nods, disrobes, and gives me his belt with a pistol and a dagger. I give him his quite heavy money pouch back.

"Emperor bless you! I think I might join the Legion for a tour or two, they'd never mess with some unnatural darkness."

"Follow me then, I have to make a stop at Emperor's Embrace first. If something comes from behind either yell or I'll cut you down with it!"

"I get it, you don't like me."

"No, I just don't care about you and have more important things to do. You can either be useful or a burden and one of those I'll leave behind."

"Sure, let's go."

Running through the town, I see there are almost no defenders left, just civilians running away. My robes protect me from being discovered as long as I don't rush to help any townsfolk. As much as leaving them to their fate pains me, I know they'll be fine as long as they don't make much commotion. While I was in the Legion we had quite a few hostage situations and it seems the experienced nomads know how things are supposed to go.

I keep my composure right until I reach the square in front of Emperor's Embrace and see the massacre.

Dead soldiers are everywhere. The nomad force and the Legion soldiers must have clashed here and the fight is still going. I can't see who the defenders are through the surrouding attackers but they seem to be holding up. I grab a large two-hander from a corpse nearby. That's much better than the tiny thing I have.

"Got you," the dead soldier growls, opens his eyes, grabs my paw, and immediately gets decapitated. His grip doesn't relent so I cut his arm off as well. The body rises, uses one remaining arm to drag itself up, readies its hind paws to jump, and gets sliced in half. That finally stops it.

Unfortunately, the dead soldiers and nomads are rising as well. Not the best trap but a certainly unexpected one. So, I either make them unable to move or destroy the body completely.

With a wide swing I cause significant discomfort to all undead around me. Not that it stops any of them but the force of the blow slows them down.

All right, focus on one, cut a leg or two off, go to the next one, move back, repeat. It works for a while.

Suddenly, they all charge at once. These guys are definitely not zombies. They are fast like normal griffons but without any fear for their lives. My swing clears some space in front of me but one hits me from the side and trips me up.

"NOOOOOOO!" a high-pitched scream grabs the zombies' attention. A second later they get blasted away from me, some shredded to bits by black blurs in the air.

A blue-eyed, bronze armored, blonde maned changeling with blackfrost wings on his back... who am I kidding?

Blaze is there, looking at me and stretching his front leg to help me get up. The black shards from his wings swirl around him, stick to his armor, and for a blissful moment I can recognize the form I used to call Mistake. The shards swirl again and grind an approaching nomad to red paste.

Red and black blur grabs my attention before I can reach for Blaze's hoof. Darky's getting overrun by attackers. Not that she's a bad fighter but she can't deal with an enemy who ignores normal wounds.

 **...she'll die...**

Right, I can stick with Blaze, help her, leave the alive mercenary here, and get out of the town.

 **...the changeling can take care of himself. She needs help RIGHT NOW...**

Right, right.

I shake my head, ignore Blaze, jump up, and run towards Darky. Halfway there the nomads notice me which gives Darky a chance to get out of the circle surrounding her and slit one attacker's throat. Not much happens so she starts running towards me with the nomads right behind her. When I dismember the last one I realize... I've made... a terrible... choice.

The world slows down as I take a deep breath and try to untangle my thoughts. It got me again.

Idiot!

Idiot!

Idiot!

I can't move.

Blaze is still standing where I left him, head hung low and hoof stretched out. He shakes his head, quietly sits down, and wipes his face. His ice wings turn into steam and disappear. A nomad rises, grabs an axe, comes to him from the front, holds the axe up, swings, hits.

"Blaze!" I try to scream but I can only groan. All this is MY FAULT. MINE AND MINE ONLY.

 **...well realized, griffon.**

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

 **...you were the only one able to hear me directly, I wonder why...**

OUT!

 **...oh no, I'm not done with you yet. Killing the unicorn is too difficult but you can help...**

That's not going to happen, whoever you are.

 **...you cannot stop a god...**

"Be careful, Crom," Darky's voice gets me out of the paralysis.

There is no way I'm letting it hurt Blaze even more and there's only one way to do it.

Sorry, Darky. Sorry, Blaze. This is all I can do now to prevent it from winning.

I take the mercenary's pistol from my belt and put it to my head.


	23. First Mission: Golden Sands

The trip to Golden Sands resort was nothing if boring. We couldn't do much and aside from Heavy Hoof sharing the mission budget with us I just kept going over my combat recordings in an attempt at finding some small grain of understanding to what I was missing. The problem was exactly the same all the time - Heavy Hoof knew precisely what I would do at any given moment.

Heavy was silent during our train ride from Canterlot to the coast, writing something into a small, white book. Aside from Dawn asking about it and finding out it was his diary, a habit he learned from his old sargeant that helped sort out thoughts, we just sat there and watched the landscape go by. I mean, there surely was something to talk about that would help me grow even a little but since I had no idea what to look for I couldn't just start a conversation.

It was Dawn who remembered a very important thing while we were crossing the ocean in a ferry.

"Hey, sir-Heavy," she looked up from a magazine as we were getting ready to shut down for the night, "I know we're supposed to go to Golden Sands and look for somepony and that me and Bucky here are just, well, baggage but can you tell us some details?"

Spitting a pencil out of his mouth, Heavy yawned.

"Sorry about that, I was just thinking about what we might find there. Our goal is simple... in theory. Three of my friends went on a vacation three weeks ago and nopony has heard of them since so we're trying to find them."

"That doesn't seem like something that would make princess Luna involve herself personally and give us an unlimited budget and time for. Who are these friends?"

"My old sargeant and a pony who for all means and purposes is a very deserving hero - Blazing Light. Princess Luna's personal bodyguard and Blazing's on and off marefriend - Choking Darkness, don't laugh, it's a family thing from what little I heard! And a griffon Royal Guard recruit Cromach who somehow got stuck with them. Ask him about the whole story one day, he loves to tell it just to embarrass Blaze."

"Do you think they'd even talk to me?" Dawn yawned as well, "I mean I'm not a high-profile pony like them."

"Blaze probably wouldn't. Nothing personal but he's kinda shy around other ponies. Darky would love a new face to mess with and, if you're into that sort of thing, she'd probably invite you to her place for drinks and then buck you senseless."

Dawn's face burst from brown to bright red at Heavy's lack of tact.

"Well, ehm, maybe... experiment?" was the only thing she managed to stutter out.

"It's sort of a greeting to her, long and a very personal story, don't worry about it. As for Cromach, he's a Guard recruit just like you, only while you were training under Rising Thunder before you got suspended he was in my group."

"OH! The completely white griffon? Wow, now I feel bad. While I was cleaning the prison cells he became a legend just like the others?"

"Heh, he got involved in things that shouldn't have concerned him and he got out alive. Maybe you'll slay some big, bad, ancient evil on this mission and become even more recognized than them."

"Don't even joke about that, I can't even hold a staff properly," Dawn groaned.

"Why did you think I gave you the chance to get out of this back in Canterlot? Blaze has a tendency to get involved in more danger than a normal pony should. Plus, if something is preventing princess Luna herself from finding them with magic there has to be something big going on."

"Now I'm scared."

"Just get some rest. Perhaps we'll be lucky and the problem is only a broken railway track or something."

"What's the chance of that being the case?"

"Exactly zero point zero percent," I smiled. I was useful for a moment!

The withering looks of the other two made me let out a distorted groan.

"I have a short entry for each of the targets in my database," I continued, trying to improve our chances of success, "Blazing Light alias Mistake. A possible unicorn ascendant with an unknown role, past host of mirror king Sombra's soul until he destroyed him completely in the mirror Crystal Empire, alternate bearer to the Element of Betrayal, part-necromantic zombie construct, capable of dissolving and stealing magic power to fuel his own magic, incapable of using spells otherwise under any circumstances, very high threat to princess Luna and any other magic user, low threat to those using only alicorn power such as Void and princess Celestia, will survive a tactical magical strike alongside cockroaches, duality. I am not sure what the last one is supposed to mean."

"That's not correct but close," Heavy snorted, "Blaze taught me hoof-to-hoof combat and the basics of staff techniques. I'm pretty sure he'd wipe the floor with you, Bucket, if he didn't lose his sight during the raid on Order of the Silver Sun in Manehattan. The part about being low threat to princess Celestia is completely untrue. I had a chat with Cromach and I read a lot, that's one good thing about being a special agent for princess Luna - I have unrestricted access to any library in Equestria. Blaze's anti-magic ability is devastating to unicorns and alicorns with weak natural power like princess Luna who have stunning magical talent to balance it. Alicorns with powerful special ability like Void or princess Celestia aren't as good with magic because they have to focus on controlling the natural force in their bodies. Unfortunately for whoever told you about Blaze not being a threat, Blaze's magic assumed similar form to Void's power after stealing a bit of Nightmare's power when princess Luna got possesses during the Ponyville incident. Thus, Blaze would be a deadly enemy even to alicorns if he wasn't the kindest soul I've ever had the pleasure to meet."

"Erm," Dawn mumbled, "What if something changed?"

"We run like heck as far as we can," Heavy said in complete seriousness.

"What about the others, Bucky?"

"Choking Darkness, princess Luna's bodyguard, thestral. Lost her wings during the second mirror invasion and is currently using a pair of magical ones created by Void, sex addict, average combat ability, cold relationsihp with Luna. She doesn't seem to be anypony special," I pulled a much shorter entry from my memory.

Both me and Dawn looked at Heavy who shrugged.

"Pretty much. She's just a normal batpony who seems superficial and airheaded at first but... no, she actually was that way years ago but Blaze changed her a lot. Believe one thing though - you don't want to make her mad. Thankfully, that's very difficult."

"Speaking from experience?" Dawn smiled.

"Yes. I got involved in the Ponyville incident while she was hiding from princess Luna. She almost killed me."

"Wow! Didn't Bucket say she was average?"

"Well, I didn't want to fight her at the time. I just didn't think she'd go that far for Blaze. Later, when I found out the truth about Blaze's involvement in the second invasion, I understood. She cares, a lot, but she hides it under the party mare mask."

"What about Cromach? Most of the mare recruits in my group shared some gossip about him being banished from the Empire. Well, when they weren't obsessed with shower fantasies about him," Dawn scratched her head, "Can't really blame them. The guy is gorgeous."

"Very handsome indeed," Heavy nodded, "Unfortunately, while I've known Blaze and Darky for years Cromach came to Canterlot only over a month ago. You can tell your friends to cool down though. While Crom is into ponies, both mares and stallions, he's currently engaged in mortal combat with Darky for Blaze's heart."

"Awwwww," Dawn pouted, "Cute and disappointing at the same time."

"Cromach, Royal Guard recruit," I said to complete my database exploration, "Used to be an Imperial Legion soldier, had a contract on his head for leaving the Legion until he killed an extremely sadistic bounty hunter, excellent physical shape and griffon weaponry training, talent for understanding mechanisms."

"So, all these guys, a magical enigma, a griffon warrior, and a batpony bodyguard, went to the place we're going, didn't return, and WE are supposed to find them, possibly dealing with whoever spirited them away?"

"Well, it's not like we're hopeless either. We have a robopony stronger and faster than anypony alive-"

"I can also cut, peel, juice, and do your taxes at the same time."

"-We have me.-"

"A pony with the physique of a god whose body is rivalled only by his weapon skills and knowledge about everything," Dawn got into the spirit of things.

"-I just like to read. And last but not least we have you, Dawn."

Me and Heavy exchanged glances, unsure what to say about the last member of our group. In the end both of us came to the same conclusion.

"A meatshield."

"A meatshield."

"Buck both of you!"

"Impossible. Gay."

"Pleasure appendage engaged."

"Grrr... I'm going to bed."

"Night, Dawn."

"Good night."

"G'night guys."

With a thud Heavy closed his diary and shut the lights off.

* * *

 _Location:_

 _\- Griffon Empire_

 _\- Golden Sands town ruins_

 _Objectives:_

 _\- Look for clues_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 5%_

 _\- Damage 1%_

 _\- Energy balance -3%_

 _Party:_

 _\- Self_

 _\- Heavy Hoof_

 _\- Dawn_

 _Note: Sand and heat decrease efficiency of both physical and mental processes._

There's no way around it, the problem definitely isn't a just broken railway track. As we get out of the train that carried us here it's easy to see the devastated town ruins and griffon soldiers crawling all over the place.

The small city itself is a collection of hotels, souvenir shops, rent-a-boat places, and houses of griffons and ponies running those services. In short, a town living fully off fishing and tourism. Even shorter, a burned down desolation.

"This can't be good," Dawn comments.

"No, really?" Heavy mutters, looking at a griffon soldier striding towards us.

"From what I can see there are bullet holes in the walls, bloodstains of both griffons and ponies, and imprints of armor in the sand. Most buildings seem to have been barged into and torched from the inside. There are no traces of artillery strikes visible from here," I finish my analysis of the rubble.

"Hmmm," Heavy looks around, "You see way more than I do. How did the buildings get destroyed so thoroughly then? There's little more than few walls still standing and a ton of wreckage."

"An explosion seems to have occured, all bricks and remains are spread out in a circle," I point in one direction, "The center is that way."

"How do you know it wasn't griffon artillery then?"

"There are no scorch marks aside from those left behind by the fire raging inside buildings. The walls are scorched mostly on the inside. The buildings were destroyed by pressure, not thermobaric effects of an explosion."

"Thermometer what?" Dawn smiles nervously, trying to look as small as possible.

"Thermo - heat, baric - pressure," Heavy explains.

"That was quite the analysis, friends," says the approaching griffon wearing a black jacket, something very unexpected in the desert heat, and nods, "What are you doing here?"

"My name is-"

"Heavy Hoof, secret agent of Equestrian princess Luna. We know who you are."

"The Black Ops information sources are quite something then," Heavy grins.

"Not enough to know the mare by your side and to know that Equestria started a husk project apparently," the griffon clicks his beak disapprovingly but stretches out his taloned arm, "Agent Smith."

"Dawn, Royal Guard recruit and my temporary assistant," Heavy shakes the griffon's arm, "and Bucket, our analysis expert. We're here to find out what happened to three of our friends who were here on a vacation."

The griffon pulls a small notebook out and flips through few pages.

"Noone, noone, noone, ah, these guys probably. The ex-wanted griffon soldier, princess Luna's bodyguard, and their blind friend. Am I correct?"

"Once again I have to commend the Intelligence Service for their skills," Heavy nods his head, "Is there a problem with us looking around?"

"Keep this between me and you, friend! Normally we'd arrest you just for being ponies after an event like this but ever since the Jones incident your princesses hold way too much sway with the Emperor so feel free to look around. You might actually help us."

"Care to share what you've found out?"

"In a moment," the griffon waves at us, "Follow me!"

Shaking the sand out of my armor, I keep examining the area while we follow the Black Ops agent.

 _Sword marks_

 _Bullet holes_

 _Scorch marks_

 _Anomaly detected: Temperature dropping_

 _Bloodstains - pony_

 _Bloodstains - griffon_

 _Broken weapons and armor_

 _Anomaly detected: Unknown cause of destruction_

 _Anomaly detected: ?_

 _Action: vocalize_

"What happened here?" is the best I can do.

The center of the 'not explosion' that must have devastated the town is not a crater but the garden of a random hotel. That in itself is not the important thing. The reason for my, no way around it, discomfort is the large steaming pool of black ice I remember from Twilight Sparkle's laboratory. It seem that an agent of princess Luna managed to get a sample from here before the griffon forces arrived.

"Well, that's what we'd like to know as well," agent Smith snickers, "The material doesn't abide the laws of physics so we suspect magic. DON'T GO NEAR - fuck!"

A griffon soldier trying to look helpful in front of an agent went to bring us a small shard of the black crystal for examination and when he got close to the frozen pool he collapsed and broke into uncontrolled sobbing.

"Hrmph!" snorts Heavy and, running as fast as he can, pulls the griffon back to the safe zone. Two medics immediately get him on a stretcher and carry him off.

"I believe you have some explaining to do," Smith narrows his eyes, "Everyone who touched whatever it is suffered the same mental shock as the idiot."

"Tell me what you know about it first, agent."

Smith sighs.

"Nothing, literally nothing. A unicorn told us it wasn't magic but I think he was wrong. We have no clue what it's made of, just that it freezes and breaks every material it touches, and that it seems to make the place cold and griffons uncomfortable."

"Any witnesses?"

"Not that we know of. The signs point to there being a nomad raid at the town, we found tracks leading into the desert but they didn't last long enough for us to find out where they led and searching the desert in a spread formation is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If it was a normal raid then the attackers would have stolen valuables, taken the inhabitants for ransom or as slaves, and left the city without causing so much destruction. I think something the attackers didn't account for happened and it's tied to the black crystals here."

"Any... casualties?" Heavy asks and holds his breath.

"Yes. Twenty seven griffons, four ponies," Smith shakes his head as Heavy grits his teeth, "None looking like your 'friends'."

All three of us breathe out.

"Cause of death?"

"Have a look yourself," Smith shrugs and leads us to a large shiny tent with machinery running around it.

 _Analysis: tent_

 _Result:_

 _\- material: heat reflecting aluminium_

 _\- machinery: cooling units, solar panels_

 _\- purpose: temporary morgue_

"Are you sure you want to go in?" Heavy asks Dawn.

"Yeah, I can't be just a filly," she says as we step inside, "Besides, how bad can it really be? BLUHRRG-"

Dawn runs out of the tent.

 _Anaysis: corpses_

 _Result:_

 _\- wounds: slashing, piercing_

 _Unexpected result detected!_

 _\- remnants: dried blood, sand, black crystal_

"Do sand raiders use large dogs or wild animals?" I ask.

"Not often, no. Plus, we haven't found any droppings or anything. Why do you ask?" Smith tilts his head.

"Something seems to have torn a piece of this griffon's side off and it looks like bite marks left by sharp teeth."

Heavy explores the body I'm describing thoroughly and clicks his teeth, looking at the griffon's arm.

 _Piercing wounds._

 _No unusual result._

 _No trace of black ice/crystal_

 _Suspected weapon: shortsword/dagger_

"Sharp teeth? Hmmm..." Smith shakes his head, "Nothing comes to mind. Perhaps a really well-trained dog whose tracks got stomped into the sand in the melee?"

"The marks are too big for a normal dog. The closest species I can find is an Equestrian crystal warhound but the marks aren't erratic enough. This was just one bite, not a dog tearing somepony into pieces. The cause of death is the piercing wound through the chest," I explain.

"It can't have been done with a sword, it's too wide. It looks more like a thin spike."

"The sides of the wound are covered in shattered crystal, like the substance outside."

"So something created the ice outside and used it to impale the invaders? A unicorn mage then?" Smith asks.

"Yes," Heavy says loudly, "Is there more of the black stuff around?"

 _Falsehood detected!_

"Smart pony," Smith grins, "There indeed are hoofsteps leading into the desert, each one marked with small pool of the black ice. You know what you're looking for, I take it?"

"No, I just want to know who or what tried to protect the defenders and where it went after the raid."

"You can borrow some of our spare desert equipment if you want to follow the tracks. My soldiers are on it as well but they can't get close to the crystal without suffering an episode like the one you saved so they travel in a safe distance and alter their course periodically. Speaking of which, why weren't you affected?"

"I was. The effect breaks down morale and resolve but I have more than enough reason to keep going. It's very simple."

"Thank you for the help," Smith smiles and gives Heavy a small silver ornament, "Show this to my soldiers if you meet them while following the trail and they'll know to obey you."

"Thanks, agent. We better hurry."

"I'll try to find out where the captives are. If I succeed I'll tell the soldiers patrolling here to tell you if you come back."

Back out in the desert sun, we approach Dawn whose legs are still shaking and who is staring blankly into the distance.

"Are you okay?" Heavy asks.

"Dead... everypony..."

"Do you need a rest?"

"Out... of... here..."

"Good, we have a lead to follow."

We equip ourselves with water bottles, supplies, and white clothes to reflect sunlight, and follow what seems to be a set of four horseshoes clearly defined by the black crystal outline around them. When we're out of sight of the town I turn to Heavy.

"What made you lie to agent Smith?"

"The dead body. I've seen a scar like that once and the puncture wounds on the arm were a clue. Was it that obvious?"

"Very. Who are we looking for then?"

"Damn! I believe Blaze is behind this somehow. The black ice is the sign of his power. It's not magic, it's more similar to alicorn abilities. He used it to protect us during the attack on the Order of the Silver Sun in Manehattan where he got blinded. The five deep puncture marks are from his mechanical griffon arm prosthesis he got when his left front leg got ripped off in a fight."

"What if the griffons find out?"

"They won't, probably. It's a secret between me, Cromach, Luna, and Darky."

"But he's your friend, right? So... we're okay then?" Dawn tries to smile but it does come out extremely forced.

"He left the town without saving the citizens. That to me spells two things - either the nomads had somepony with them who he wasn't able to deal with and had to run away or, the worse case, he became more dangerous to them than the attackers. The lasting marks of his power make me thing the latter is the case."

"How is that possible?"

"It's his ability to steal magic. I don't exactly understand it myself but during the Ponyville incident he stole the power of Nightmare Moon controlling Luna to fight her which changed the way his magic worked. Plus, he had mirror Sombra inside him at the time who let him use his magic as well.-"

Heavy stops when he sees the lack of understanding in us. We weren't there and we didn't have the chance to talk to all involved parties like he did.

"-Nevermind. All you need to know is that he was able to fight Void, the alicorn of Death, in his pocket dimension and go even. Blaze has too much power to control is what I think."

"That's not all, is it?" Dawn sqeaks.

"No. Considering how much dark magic he stole I think he might be fighting for control with... something else."

"And you want to FIND that guy?" Dawn facehoofs, "WHY? It's better he's gone somewhere deep into the desert where he won't cause damage!"

"Because I owe everything to him," Heavy grinds his teeth, "and he's been there for me whenever I needed it. I will be there for him when for once it's him who needs help even if I have to be the last one on his side."

His tone clearly spells that the conversation is over.

 _Add note: Heavy Hoof; possible enemy_

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _Delete_


	24. First Mission: Desert Trail

"Landing might not be the smartest idea," Ivan looks at the screen in front of him showing griffons digging through rubble, "unless you want to take those guys on which, funnily enough, we probably could."

"Yeah, while I was aboard the Lightbringer the flak cannons ripped a hundred flying griffons to pieces. Too bad we can't aim them down."

"We have some bombs but nothing too effective. You don't, by some strange chance, have some notes on making a really big bomb, have you?"

"No, the engineers were keen on sharing the mechanics details but the only weaponry my friends managed to get plans for were the flak cannons."

"Well, we're not going to do any carpet bombing anytime soon, kid. The gunpowder charges we have are standard griffon issue, nothing for large scale operations."

"It doesn't matter. Killing defenseless griffons aside, we'd lose any chance of finding clues about the guys Void wants us to find."

"Speaking of the creepy unicorn, you haven't talked to the crew yet."

"I'm paying them, isn't that enough?"

"You've never led a team, Frosty?"

"No. Hired lance, caravan guard, prisoner."

"Then take it from me, you want to get to know them even if it means knowing whom you can sacrifice if need be. Ponies won't follow you just for money."

"Eh, whatever. I'll go ask Void what he wants us to do here. Perhaps he'll think of a way to get through the griffons. Is there any chance of them spotting us up here?"

"No way. We're hidden in the clouds and the only way we can scan the area under us is thanks to these pretties," Ivan taps on the machine with the screen, "Unfortunately, if you want more detail in the picture we'll have to go lower and risk the soldiers looking upwards."

"Maybe later. See you, Ivan."

"One last thing, Frosty. Seeing as we've found out we're going to need some real weapons. This ship is insanely fast and well-equipped against airborne attackers but in case we have to siege a fortress or something we have nothing. Perhaps you could tell me where you dug up the blueprints for this beauty and we'd go get something more, hint hint?"

"Unfortunately, that would mean attacking a heavily fortified fortress in the first place. Can't you think of something, mix some chemicals to blow stuff up?"

"I have my hooves full learning how to operate this thing effectively and teaching the random ponies you grabbed off the streets."

"Hmmm, what if I got you somepony smart enough to fly this so you can focus on the exploding part of our project?"

"Got anypony in mind?"

"Yeah, either Five or Fail."

"Whaaaat? Sorry, Frosty, but I'm not comfortable with the bug around and the whorse freaks me out with the way he talks."

"Come on, Ivan, Five is absolutely fine. From what I've seen the Nightmare changelings are way friendlier than the guys who used to hunt us for food under Chrysalis' rule before the peace treaty. As for Fail, to be honest, as little as he talks about himself he's smart as heck and never talks back. Or would you prefer me telling Skullbreaker to help you here?"

"I'll murder you in your sleep!"

"That's captain for you, Ivan."

"I'll murder you in your sleep, captain," Ivan grins, "Now do your job and get to know your crew."

With a deep sigh I leave the bridge and trudge through the bowels of the ship, admiring the design again and again. The halls are low but not small enough to be too uncomfortable and the walls are paper-thin just to lower the weight and offer as much space as possible. Surprisingly enough, the Hailstorm is big enough to have three decks. The lowest one - engineering deck with machinery and a general cargo bay, the middle one where the bridge, communal sleeping area, and few rooms, are, and the top deck which is outside. Knowing there's nopony I want to talk to on the machinery deck, I return back to captain's quarters, the only double room on the ship.

"Hey, Fail!" I look at the batpony brushing his mane, "Ivan wants to make you a new pilot so he can have some free time with inventing his end-of-the-world nukes."

Back in Stalliongrad I sort of got used to Fail sleeping in the same room. It wasn't too different from sleeping in one room with soldiers around me after I got over the 'he blows other ponies for living' thing. Right now I have no reason to not believe his act to be genuine and while he might be touched in the head I think he has potential.

"M-me?" he hiccups, "I've never done anyhing like this! Isn't there anypony better?"

"Skullbreaker..."

"Point taken, sir. Should I go now?"

"Finish whatever you have to and go. The sooner you start the sooner you'll be at the helm. I know you can do it."

"I-I'll try my best, sir."

I've been around enough guards and soldiers to recognize Fail must have had some sort of training. Perhaps a recruit who failed to get into the ranks and had to find a job elsewhere? The body and habits tell a tale even if he doesn't. To be honest, I don't care that much. He's obedient and that counts for more than real skill for now, not that I have a choice of crew members anyway.

The communal sleeping area is just a large room with about twenty bunk beds, barrels of dried food serving as tables if necessary, and real tables screwed into the floor. Contrary to most of the Hailstorm's design this room looks like one from the movies about pirates of old times. Aside from the nameless helping hooves there's nopony here.

Walking outside to the main deck, it soon becomes obvious why.

We're not in Equestria where pegasi control the weather and so the winter is gone. The golden light of the sun bathes the deck in its glory and the warmth seeps into my entire body even through the thin cloud we're hiding in. Most of the crew is here, standing around and chatting. I would smile at the ponies marvelling at Hailstorm's existence if I wasn't in wonder myself. It's one thing to be able to fly using wings but it's quite something else to KNOW the sky is yours and that you decide who else comes up here.

Taking a deep breath, I know that, at least for now, all I can see belongs to me.

"Hey, cap!" Five waves at me, "We've been hovering here for an hour, what's going on?"

"HELLO, KAPTN!"

"Hey, Five! Hey, Skully! We're above the town we were looking for. I'm thinking about how to get down without getting swarmed by Legion soldiers. Griffon xenophobia is bad enough even without having a Nightmare changeling and a minotaur on board."

"Well, about that," Five blushes, "You know they call us like that only because we used to be, well, evil. I've thought of a new name for us."

"Yeees?"

"Like, ehm, we can put ponies to sleep, right?"

"Yeees?"

"And we used to feed on fear but we can feed on love as well, right?"

"Yeees?"

"And we can't actually change that much, right?"

"Just spit it out!"

"Dreamlings..."

Looking at the nervously smiling creature covered in black-blue chitinous plating, I'm not sure I can see it. Maybe it's the mouth full of sharp teeth capable of biting through plate armor, maybe the fact that I've seen Five take down Skullbreaker without any effort, who knows...

"That's not terrible," I pat Five's head, "Not sure that would solve our catbird problem though."

"WHACK EM!"

"No, Skullbreaker. We can't take a full garrison of soldiers on. How's your training going on anyway?"

"BUGGY GOOD! HARD TO SMACK!"

After the misunderstanding in the bar the minotaur became interested in Five's predator-like combat and the... dreamling in turn loves to hear stories from different parts of the world the minotaur travelled. I'm not sure what went on during the week before we were ready to depart but the duo is inseparable.

"You can't let the big guy catch you," Five scratches his head, "otherwise he'll rip you to bits. He's a bit slow but you can rely on him."

"ME GOOD RUNNER!"

"See what I mean? Don't worry about it. Is there a reason for you coming up here, cap? No offense but you've spent the entire trip locked with the batty guy."

"Meh, Ivan wants me to talk to all of you and see how you feel about what we're doing."

Five shrugs.

"I'm fine with all of this. I mean, I'm not going to start biting heads off at your word but if somepony attacks us they'll see what Guiding Light's hive is capable of. I don't like to say it but I'm not sure about Holy Light though. He smells a little like dad but feels different."

"What do you mean by that?"

"How much do you know about our history?"

"Erm, nothing? The first time I saw your kind was during the fight in Ponyville."

"What about the names Blazing Light, Guiding Light, Holy Light. Something in common?"

"The family name?"

"Yep! Holy Light is definitely related to dad but his mind feels completely different. It's weird."

"Have you talked to him? He's looking to find out what happened to his brother Blazing."

"Dad's his bro? Wow, I had no idea. I thought it was some distant cousin, he looks completely different. Thanks, cap!"

With Five running off, I shake my head. Everything revolves around the unlucky unicorn but unfortunately my experience with him is too limited to use to my advantage. Avoiding Holy Light now being pestered by Five, I walk to our 'employer' who is standing by the railings and looking into the distance.

"Any ideas on what to do now?" I lean on the railing myself.

"I am not sure. I feel the presence of several entities who might be the key to our hunt for information."

"Can't we just sweep in, grab them, and leave before the griffons mount a counterattack?"

"No. You are not equipped enough to fight. The entities I mentioned are not simple ponies."

"I'd like you to be straight with me. I remember you from Ponyville and I know you're not a unicorn. The last time I got dragged into things concerning an alicorn it ended up really bad. I want to know what we're dealing with and why can't you deal with it yourself, Void."

 _Please don't turn me into a frog._

"Our goal remains the same, a rescue mission. If I was not sure before about the need for our involvement then I am sure now. I sense four entities who are tangled in this event but I am not sure what their role is. Before I know I do not want to act."

"What good are we, normal ponies, here then?"

"You have allowed me to get close enough unnoticed, that is already an achievement," Void waves his hoof and a swirling circle appears mid-air, showing a very similar sight to Ivan's sensors, "This was impossible to do in Equestria but since I do not have to use blanket spells I can focus on an unprotected area and I have a theory."

"Care to explain?"

"I will share with you as much as I can. One of the entities is definitely Mistake himself. I cannot track him but," the vision in the magic circle moves, blurs and distorts, "his magic breaking is still in effect which means he cannot be too far. The second entity which is undoubtedly our enemy and which we must avoid at all costs-"

"You do realize this ship can blow up an army, right?" I say, not adding that it would work only if they were flying.

The vision in Void's scrying spell shifts again and a black smoke fills it. After few seconds it's possible to make out the shape of the mist.

"I do believe physical damage would be mostly useless against a shadow dragon, although there is always a chance of harming the host serving as a core."

"Is there a mage controlling it or something then?"

"No, that is the work of the third entity involved in this and no, I cannot show or tell you who it is without alerting it to our presence."

"What's stopping anypony from doing what you just did?"

"I am. My power shields us from any unfocused magic in a way similar to Mistake's trail. My current form is incapable of using strong enough magic to teleport here by myself and if I went in my alicorn form I would have been discovered immediately. That is why I need you and your group."

"You said there were four entities..."

"Yes," says Void with a much darker undertone, "and he might already know we are here. If it is so then he has not acted yet which surprises me and gives me a little hope that he is just watching instead of working against us."

This got really bad really fast.

"I hate to break it to you but I don't know what to do. Especially now that you've scared me even without really telling me anything. I mean, I just have few ponies with me only one of which knows some sort of magic and this STINKS of the damn thing."

"Do not be afraid too soon, young one, and trust the ponies around you. Fate has thrown you together for a reason even if it might be temporary and I believe you are the ones I need to solve this situation. First of all, we still need to find out what happened here and that is your job. For that I think we need to go down to the town ruins. You are a very resourceful pegasus, Icy Gaze, and you think in a way very different from mine."

"Thanks, I guess."

Void makes the scrying spell disappear and returns to gazing into the distance. Apparently it's up to me to do the job even if it has way too much fine print.

Well, Void is our powerhouse and he thinks I'm the one to do this. What am I good at?

Talking... and melting the hearts and crotches of ladies.

We don't have to sneak in. We don't have to attack anypony. This town was a well-known holiday resort for both Imperial and Equestrian customers which means we can just bluff our way in. No guarantee we'll get anywhere but we shouldn't get shot on sight.

Now, who should I take? I'm going to need Ivan and Fail inside the ship in case we have to leave quickly. The rest of the crew has to be ready to cover our potential retreat.

"Void, do me a favor, please!" I raise my voice to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"We're going down. Tell Holy Light, Five, and Skullbreaker to get ready and I'll tell Ivan to land."

"As you wish. I will stay out of sight though while you do whatever you plan to."

"We might need to get out fast."

"That poses very little trouble to me."

I leave him with a nod and head back to the bridge where Ivan, trying to avoid touching the batpony, teaches Fail how to operate the 3d scanners and each individual motor to maintain fluid ship movement.

"Guys, drop us off and then hide back here. If you see us running back just get everypony behind the cannons and hover right above the sand so you can shoot."

"You're just going to WALK into the town through the front?" Ivan facehoofs.

"We can't fight and we have no clue what to look for, perhaps the griffons know something. I think we can pose as Equestrian agents."

"I don't even... just don't get killed too soon, Frosty."

"I'm not planning to."

Rushing back to my cabin for a lance, I return on the top deck just in time to jump off and with a quick flick of my wings land softly on the beach. Five does the same although he doesn't even need wings to deal with the drop distance. Looking at us in utter disgust, Holy Light climbs down a rope ladder followed by Skullbreaker and Void.

"Showoffs," he mumbles, taking few practice swings with his levitating sword and tightening the straps fastening a round shield to his front leg.

Skullbreaker makes a small crater in the sand as he lands, warhammer of my size propped on his shoulder.

Don't look too nervous. We're here for an official reason and we've been sent by an alicorn although not the one we'll be pretending to work for. Every lie needs a grain of truth to work.

I might need diapers soon as a group of griffons surround us, led by an official looking guy in a black jacket.

"And who might you be?" smiles the leading griffon and asks.

Quickly looking around, I see Void is gone.

"Frosty Stare, Equestrian air force. We're working for princess Celestia," I hazard a guess, "agent. You know, the white, horny pony capable of dropping the sun on the surface of the planet. Well, not that she'd need to do it here anymore."

"BOSS IS BLACK-"

"Shut up, agent Skully. What happened here?"

"Equestrian agents, you say? Good to know," the griffon smiles widely, "My name is agent Smith and I'm in charge here. Truth be told, what happened here is very simple. Nomads attacked the town and took the inhabitants and visitors away. Their trail leads to the desert but not far enough to let us estimate the hideout."

"We could help you, agent."

"How, may I ask? Even our soldiers equipped with thrusters weren't able to spot anything from high up."

So at least some soldiers here have rocket boots to enhance their aerial chase capabilities. Good to know. Time to get me some gravitas.

"As I said, we're the air force," I wave at the clouds few times, "and we have the supplies to follow the trail and the equipment to find even the smallest of details."

The horror in the eyes of the griffon soldiers is priceless as the Hailstorm slowly descends and casts a shadow on the entire group. Smith recovers quickly though.

"I see. Well then," he unpins a small silver ornament from his jacket and gives it to me, "here's something in case your... ship catches the attention of my soldiers patrolling the desert and you need to persuade them you aren't enemies."

"Thank you for your help, agent," I nod, "So the faded desert trail is the only clue you've got?"

"The one and only, unfortunately. Feel free to have a look around but don't bother the soldiers in the large tent to the north, please. We've been here for days and they need their rest."

"Of course."

Leaving the agent to his business, we pretend to look around in the most official way possible. There are buildings that look as if a massive explosion wrecked them and there are bits of broken armor and weapons here and there but that's about as much as I can tell. The griffons have an equipment tent situated in the southern part of the town square, an air-conditioned mortuary in the shade of a destroyed hotel, and the northern tent where the resting soldiers must be. Come to think of it, the tent is almost as cold as the mortuary... probably to fight the heat stroke.

"Anything suspicious?" I ask the group standing around. I mean, none of them's a freaking detective but they might have noticed something.

"Aside from the catbird being way too friendly?" Holy Light frowns, "Nothing. The bodies in the mortuary were stabbed and slashed, nothing unusual about them."

Five mumbles something to himself.

"What is it?"

"I-I'm not sure," he sniffs the air, "Something feels off... that way."

We follow the increasingly focused dreamling through the town ruins until he stops in what seems to have been a gift shop but now is just a heap of charred wooden beams and building materials.

"It's under the debris. I... feel a source of fear."

I experimentally push into the heap just to see if anything moves. Not even close. Realizing the futility of any attempt at removing the pieces of the fallen roof myself, I give an order to our hulking minotaur.

"Skully, you have a go at it."

Displaying a surprising amount of intelligence, he knocks at few pieces of rubble with his warhammer and then shatters a block of broken wall. Repeating the process few more times, we're now able to move few pieces of wreckage and are rewarded with the sight of a sturdy metal trap door.

"Perhaps somepony survived in the cellar?" Holy Light asks and his horn lights up.

The door isn't locked and a second later Holy's magical flare drops down the stairs leading down. A choked gasp answers. Able to see in the shadows cast by the flare, Five descends first and, sword ready, Holy follows. Skullbreaker is too tall to fit easily so he stands on guard upstairs with me.

A high-pitched squeak from downstairs is quickly cut off and the duo returns, leading a female griffon and who probably is her young daughter.

I bow deeply before her.

"I realize this must have been terrible for you but you're safe now. We just need you to tell us what happened before we escort you to the Imperial garrison."

The mother's stare darts between Five and Skullbreaker.

"Leave us alone, guys," I wave them off.

"It happened five days ago," the mother takes a deep breath and begins, "Legion soldiers arrived and started patrolling the city the day before as if they knew something would happen. It was of no use. The bandits attacked in the evening without warning, no sound or anything, just firebombs suddenly coming through the windows."

"The soldiers didn't see them coming?"

"No," she ruffles the feathers on her daughter's head, "The bandits just cut through them without any concern for their health. I saw one jump into three soldiers and..."

Her beak starts trembling and her eyes glaze over. I wrap a wing around her.

"Please, I need to know."

"He-he got stabbed but then... then he just got back up and tore the guard's necks open."

"You've got to be shi- nevermind. Go on."

"I followed my husband through the town square. There was this tall, white griffon who just kept slicing the bandits to pieces, cutting off their arms and legs, but eventually they overwhelmed him and tied him up. They did the same to the mare he was with. She was one of the winged ponies but not like you, the featherless ones."

"A batpony."

"Is that how they're called? Fitting," she chuckles, still looking into the empty air, "The bandits killed whoever was resisting but they wanted to capture those two no matter the cost."

"They just tied everypony up and left?"

"No, they didn't have enough time. My husband told me to run back home to hide and went to help the white griffon. I couldn't just run away so I stayed and watched for a while. When the bandits overwhelmed the white guy the black unicorn appeared," she shivers, "I saw the three of them wandering the town. They even visited our shop once and I think the unicorn was blind. He was only walking through the fires and calling for someone when a bandit came and just cut him down with an axe."

"Black fur, blue mane, pink eyes, blind?"

"I don't remember the eyes, sorry, but yes. Was he your friend?"

"I knew him. Is he dead then?"

"I'm not sure. It sort of became strange after that. He suddenly grew wings and some black things started impaling the bandits. The ones who were hit didn't get back up anymore. That was when I started running. A moment later I heard a screech from behind and the shockwave threw me through the street. I managed to get inside, grab my little treasure," she pats her daughter, "before the second tremor came and hide in the cellar. Fortunately, we had some canned food down there so we just waited for someone to come. Thank you."

"Follow me then, I'll take you to Legion soldiers."

I wait for her to get her bearings in the sun and join the others on the way to agent Smith. At least that's the plan until something I definitely didn't expect to hear here comes - a quiet amused chuckle.

"Make sure she's safe, guys. I'll have a quick look around here before we get back to the ship."

Careful to make as little noise as possible, I sneak to a destroyed building with my lance ready. It's Void talking to somepony. I'm not sure what worries me more, hearing Void's voice with barely controlled anger in it or the fact that the other guy is apparently amused by it.

"If you are behind this then-"

"Then what, little pony? Last time we met you failed miserably if I remember correctly."

"I was supposed to just waste your time, spirit! I can show you what it means to have me as an enemy."

"Heh heh heh, all bark and no bite, so boooring. Speaking of wasting time, how is your dear marefriend? Also, speaking of your marefriend, if you dare to threaten me again I might just remember how fun mental patients are to mess with."

Void's low growl makes me shiver but only serves to amuse the other listener who laughs to himself. Only until Void says just one word.

"Fluttershy."

The drop in temperature is almost physical.

"Say that again?" hisses the other voice.

"You laughed at me talking to you as an equal back in the underworld but let me remind you again - everyone dies, even you, and now I know how to make you suffer before you do. I will not warn you again so leave my friends alone."

The next laugh comes but feels rather forced.

"I think you've got it the other way around, my little creation. I have nothing to do with this. Well, that's not exactly true but you'll just have to believe I am on your friend's side."

"You have the audacity to say that after what you did to him?"

"What I did? How about what YOU did? Take a guess which one of us hurt him more, Void, I want to hear it from you. I know you almost never lie."

"I did," Void whispers after a while, "Why are you here then?"

"Let's just say that this world is much more interesting with all the little races alive and struggling rather than as an empty rock which is what it will become if your friend fails."

"So are you going to help?"

"Now that I know you, Luna, and Tia are involved? Heh, no. It's going to be so much more fun watching you win... or lose."

"I guess that is the best I can expect from you."

"Give me a good show, Void."

"Do not push me, agent Pranks."

I hear a sigh and somepony sitting down on the sand and I take it as a sign to leave. No matter how serious the implications of what the other voice said are all I can do is focus on the task in front of me.

Returning back to the Hailstorm, I sit down into the captain's chair on the bridge. Ivan holds his breath and grits his teeth as he watches Fail get us back into the clouds but when we're safely hidden he turns to me.

"Found anything, kid?"

"That I need a drink," I mumble.

To my surprise Ivan offers me a flat bottle of something that feels like molten iron and goes down like a lead ball.

"Holy hellfire," I groan between coughs, "Why don't you make bombs out of THAT?"

"Stalliongrad lemonade. Smoooother than a filly's belly."

"Bleh! Sure wakes one up though," I shake my head, "There should be a path leading from the town into the desert but the bandits seem to have cleaned up behind them rather well. The griffons have no clue where exactly the trail goes."

Ivan plays with the screens for a while.

"Which one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look here," he points to one screen which zooms out, "There's a clear path of hoofsteps leading north. How it is possible in the desert I have no idea but it is there. The second thing that could be called a path is this stretch of sand."

I'm done with supernatural things for today.

"The desert path. Let's find out why the griffon agent wanted to send us that way so badly."

The desert flows under us as me and Ivan keep staring at screens in various stages of zoom.

"Got something!" Fail breaks the silence, "There's unevenly disturbed sand in the distance. I doubt the griffons flying high would see it with their eyes and the ones flying low wouldn't have the field of view to notice unless lucky."

"Hmmm, follow it," I say, "We can always go back and try the other trail leading out of the town. What do you think, Ivan? Ivan?"

"Sorry, kid, are you using a radio?"

"Huh? No."

"Strange. One of the machines here picks up a signal being broadcasted from this room. It's weak but the range is massive."

A signal that anypony can pick up but it's weak enough so only somepony who knows what to look for will find it. Griffons, heh.

"Is it this?" I present the ornament given to me by Smith, "The leader of the rescue unit gave it to me in case we met his soldiers in the desert. He was a Black Ops agent."

"Yes," Ivan waves it in front of a machine that starts buzzing a little more, "Hmmm... I wonder what will happen if I do this. HEH!"

"What?"

"This thing isn't the only source of a signal of this sort around, there's one more."

"You mean the agent gave one more to somepony?"

"Yeah. It's coming from the north. Do you want to investigate?"

"No, not now. Let's follow this path first. How far do you think you can track the signal?"

"Now that I know what to look for... half of the continent, give or take? Should we break your tracking device?"

"Not really, I'll just tell everypony to get ready for night patrols. Let's see what our griffon agent really wants."

The night falls on the desert and the cold up here starts to seep through the armor plating as we slowly follow what could be the remnants of a sandstorm or a fairly well covered trail.

"What are the red things on this screen, sir?" Fail asks Ivan.

"Heat signatures. This thing should be useless in the des-"

"At night?" I grin, watching the red blob on the monitor, "Ivan?"

"Yes?"

"Underground base?"

"Maybe. The sensors on this thing are pretty sensitive."

"How about we drop the tracking device there and prepare the fireworks?"

"You don't mean-"

"Let the Imperial Legion deal with the bandits and then jump in to grab the targets."

Ivan grins.

"I'll get the gunpowder charges ready. They should be enough against lightly armored enemies."

I really hope that's the case. I'm not going to assault the base of possibly undying enemies by myself, especially if our smartass agent gives me a better opportunity.


	25. First Mission: Hurt

_Location:_

 _\- Griffon Empire_

 _\- Desert north from Golden Sands_

 _Objectives:_

 _\- Follow the trail_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 14%_

 _\- Damage 3%_

 _\- Energy balance -9%_

 _Party:_

 _\- Self_

 _\- Heavy Hoof_

 _\- Dawn_

 _Note: Desert leaves the mind open to wander._

The trail of black ice hoofprints goes on and on. We've been following it for two days and we are fine thanks to the equipment agent Smith gave us. How the one we're following survived for this long or got this far is beyond me. Some sort of magic has to be involved.

We don't talk too much. Dawn, unused to the sand slipping over and over under her hooves, is too tired to do much more than walk and blink. Heavy is in much better state but I can see his ears twitch with every shift of sand dunes.

"Is anything wrong, Heavy?" I break the silence.

"Hm, aside from this whole thing? I'm wondering how a group of nomads managed to take an entire town down, a town with a Legion fortress and garrison."

 _Load Golden Sands town map._

 _Attack route: East_

 _Defensive structures: Tier 3 Legion Fortress_

"Surprise? Inside agent?"

"You catch on fast, Bucket. Soon you'll be a real stallion."

"Thank you."

"The entire attack seems off though. No matter what, there should be some survivors either in the fortress or griffons who managed to escape. The traces left by the bandits say that there can't have been too many of them so even if they managed to come from the desert unspotted, which is a feat in itself, they shouldn't have been able to round up everypony and lead them away."

"Perhaps the captured were too scared to run?" Dawn mumbles, "I know that feeling."

"There is always a hero who at least tries," Heavy shakes his head, "but I think you're right. Either the bandits were extremely brutal to anypony resisting or something else must have happened."

A shadow appears as we clear a sand dune. It's a small oasis, a tiny one to be precise, with just a tree, small bush, and a puddle in the middle.

And a four-legged silouhette slumped with its head in the water.

 _Scanning..._

 _Species: unknown_

 _Primary color: bronze_

 _Secondary color: blonde_

 _Cutie mark: img_978_blackCircle_

 _Standing: N/A_

 _Threat Level: minor_

 _Name: N/A_

 _Status: N/A_

 _Damage type: N/A_

 _Notes: possible target_

"Somepony is there," I point to the little shady patch.

"Good eyes," Heavy picks up the pace, "perhaps a survivor?"

Walking as fast as we can, we get about halfway to the oasis when Heavy starts running recklessly towards it. He gets there and picks the figure up, checking for signs of life. When we're close enough so I can see clear details I realize why my long-range sensors gave off such strange result.

The creature is a pony in shape and, cradled in Heavy's front legs, looks not much taller than Dawn. What isn't pony-like are the bronze changeling plates where pony coat should be and the soft shimmer of almost invisible see-through wings made of fire hanging limply from the creature's back. The difference between it and a changeling is that there are no holes in its legs and its blonde mane and tail are what ponies consider normal.

 _Scanning: wings_

 _..._

 _Appearance: closest species - phoenix_

 _Notes: corporeal form missing, ignores physical contact, no heat signature_

 _Result: thaumic construct_

"Hey, heyheyhey," Heavy whispers to the figure, "don't do this to me. I don't know what happened but I've seen you helpless way too many times. Don't give up now-"

"Unngh," the figure moans weakly, "...voices."

"Shhh," Heavy pulls a water bottle out of his bag and pours a steady stream of liquid into the pony's mouth, most of which ends up soaking into the sand, "Come ooooon."

All of a sudden the fire wings wrap around Heavy and both me and Dawn rush to him, stopping only when we notice Heavy being completely unharmed.

"...dreams ...alone."

"Shhh, it's okay," Heavy pats the pony's head, "I'm here."

"...he said I was disgusting," the pony sniffles.

"It's fine, Blaze. You've been in the sun for too long," Heavy looks at us and hisses, "Shoo, go away!"

Blaze's wings go limp again and he pushes against Heavy's chest.

"...s-sorry... I'll stop bothering you... I'll go...-"

I can see Heavy burst to tears as the unicorn tries to get out of his embrace.

"-...I'm stuck in something... sorry... I'll try harder..."

"Not you," Heavy tightens the hug, "You idiot."

"Get away from it, Heavy!" a firm voice commands.

 _Scanning..._

 _Species: ascended unicorn_

 _Primary color: black_

 _Secondary color: blue_

 _Cutie mark: img_979_whiteCircle_

 _Standing: neutral_

 _Threat Level: deadly_

 _Name: Mistake_

 _Status: Nightguard_

 _Damage type: N/A_

 _Notes: possible target_

"What?" Heavy turns his head to look at the black unicorn and jumps away, letting the body in his hooves flop limply on the sand. His eyes dart from Mistake to whoever the other 'pony' is.

"It's an impostor, Heavy," Mistake chuckles, "Unfortunately, he had way too outdated information about my looks and power."

Much like 'Blaze' this unicorn possesses a pair of magical wings but these I recognize. They are made of the black ice a piece of which Twilight had in her laboratory, the same material we've been following all the way out here.

"What's going on?" Heavy takes a step back.

"Trouble," Mistake scowls, "Get away from it before it wakes up again and I'll explain."

Heavy walks away from 'Blaze', keeping the slowly breathing body in his line of sight.

"Luna sent us to get you, Cromach, and Darky. What happened?"

"Bad stuff, Heavy. It's all over, for everyone. The Nightmare has allied with Discord and are taking out all those who successfully opposed them in the past. Cromach and Darky are dead. I had to leave them so I'd survive and spread the word. Celestia and the Elements must be warned."

"Damn," Heavy mumbles to himself and turns to us.

Mistake ruffles his wings.

Something is wrong, aside from the entire 'the world is doomed' thing. I run, breaking black ice freezing my hooves to the sand, to Heavy. A long shard of Mistake's wing aims at Heavy's neck before I can open my mouth or raise my hoof to take the first running step and...

...shatters.

Heavy, snarling and turning at lightning speed with his staff ready, breaks it into pieces that result only in few harmless cuts on his face and neck.

"I had to leave them so I'd survive... how stupid do you think I am?" Heavy screams, "Dawn, take care of Blaze! Bucket, let's deal with this thing!"

Undisturbed, Mistake smiles widely.

"Very stupid if you think your defiance matters."

The sky darkens, cold wind blows through the desert, and Mistake's wings spread wide, breaking into small levitating shards creating a maelstorm around him.

 _Heavy thaumic interference._

 _Search database: Mistake_

 _Compare_

 _..._

 _Damage type: physical(high), thaumic(average), other(deadly)_

 _..._

 _Conflict detected_

 _Current threats: thaumic (deadly)_

My sensors don't lie.

There is no other process-bending influence like it was in Twilight's laboratory but the physical characteristics fit. That could mean either something is using his body and can't do it fully or the Mistake in front of us is somepony completely different just looking the part. That doesn't change the fact that if Heavy gets hit by the cloud of shards swirling around Mistake he'll get shredded.

 _Engage magic absorbing capacitors_

 _Capacity 0%_

Twilight did give me some capability to absorb magic and if I couple it with my tough armor I should be able to break Mistake's concentration.

Charge.

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 48%_

 _\- Damage 37%_

 _\- Energy balance -47%_

 _\- Energy reserves 89%_

 _\- Thaumic Capacitor 100%_

 _!WARNING! Capacitor is full_

 _!WARNING! Balance loss_

 _Balance restored._

"HA HA HA HA HA," Mistake's booming laugh echoes without having anything to bounce off of, "Toys..."

Some shards idly fly towards Heavy and he quickly avoids all of them. Mistake is just playing with him, that much is apparent.

Needless to say, my attempt failed. The magic dampening worked for staggering 0.03 seconds before the capacitors filled and failed. It wasn't even enough to stop the telekinetic blow that launched me away from Mistake. What's worse, the upper layers of my armor now have deep gashes in them.

I'm sure I'm the only one who can get through. Heavy will die instantly if he tries and he knows it. It's only a matter of time before Mistake gets bored of making the earthpony jump around and unleashes his magic.

 _Time to fill: 0.03s_

 _Maximum thaumic field level: high_

 _Required processing power: available (86% overload)_

Hmmm...

All I have to do is hit the unicorn's horn to stop the ice storm.

Charging forward again, I get ready to immediately release the stored energy as soon as the capacitors get filled in order to create a defensive field around my body. It takes way too much processing power but I shouldn't need to do it for too long.

 _!ERROR! Capacitor is full_

 _Release energy_

 _!ERROR! Capacitor is empty_

 _!ERROR! Capacitor is full_

 _Release energy_

 _!ERROR! Capacitor is empty_

 _!ERROR! Capacitor is full_

 _!ERROR! Damage critical_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 0%_

 _\- Damage 98%_

 _\- Energy balance -0%_

 _\- Energy reserves 12%_

 _\- Thaumic Capacitor 0%_

 _Shutting down nonessential systems_

 _Run subsystem damage diagnostic_

Hurts...

I did it. I got close enough to punch Mistake. With how overcharged I was the blow should have broken his horn or, if I missed somehow, shattered any bone it hit. The cloud of shard disappeared and then...

...pain.

 _Restoring optical sensor link_

I'm lying in a pool of something, barely able to move my head to look at the fight.

Heavy is swinging his staff much faster than I remember him doing during our training but Mistake is still dancing circles around him. Whenever the blow seems to connect it somehow just ruffles the unicorn's fur and gets Heavy in range of counterattack.

 _Restoring aural sensor link_

"Heh, the worthless unicorn saw you as a much bigger threat than you really are. Are you perhaps holding back?" Mistake grins sadistically, "I don't even have to use my own magic. His combat skill is more than enough for both you and the toy soldier. Well, time to end-URK!"

Heavy blocked a blow with his staff, let it quite unceremoniously drop on the sand and punched Mistake's face. With the second of inattentiveness Heavy spun around and...

"Sorry for this."

...bucked Mistake with both hind legs up in the balls.

The lack of effect becomes noticeable right as a thick shard of black ice from Mistake's wing pierces Heavy's chest and pins him to the sand.

"SIR!" Dawn yells, stops attending to Blaze, and rushes to Heavy.

 _Judgement error_

 _Vocalize_

"No," I groan weakly.

 _Damage report completed_

 _Replay_

The small crystals in the structure of my muscle cables weren't able to cope with the repeating cycle of absorbing and forcefully ejecting magic energy and shattered. The damage is beyond repair.

Right now all I can do is watch.

Watch as Dawn blocks the next blow aimed at Heavy with her wooden staff that breaks immediately. Watch as Mistake laughs again and punches her, still standing on her hind legs, in the stomach. Watch as she throws up blood and collapses on the sand.

Heavy, eyes wide and panting, wiggles the shard pinning him down out from the sand and pushes it out of himself with a hoof. Spitting out blood, he picks his staff up and stands back upright.

"Well, so much for the rescue attempt. Don't worry though, your bodies will serve me well. Too bad you won't see the end of the world for yourselves. I so love seeing you poor ponies break down as the chilling touch of fear finally takes over," one of Mistake's wings breaks into shards that spin and slice Heavy's staff into pieces, "I must admit I've had fun."

Heavy's legs fail him and he falls flat on his rump.

"I won't give you the pleasure of screaming," he growls.

"Oh, you will," Mistake's wing reassembles, spreads, and...

... violently shatters, ice turning into vapor mid-air.

A golden-red flame dispels the magical darkness and the sun pierces the black clouds again.

"Hmph," Mistake grunts and the remaining wing disappears, leaving only magical influence in the air.

"Beaten you twice... will get you again..." Blaze croaks, taking wobbling steps towards Mistake.

"In that shape? I doubt it," Mistake grins, "Let's get rid of the interruptions and we'll have enough time to talk about how those you loved despise you now."

Blaze shudders and looks at the sand for a second. The blazing flames of his phoenix wings fade slightly.

"You know what they say... hope dies last. And when it does," Blaze's fire wings go darker and darker until the fire turns black, tipped with purple, and eventually even that hisses out and solidifies into black ice, "Only despair remains."

"Good, now give up and let me take over," Mistake smiles, a little forced this time.

"No... you WILL fail, your agents WILL fall, and you WILL die. Even gods die," Blaze stomps his hoof and Mistake's body freezes and breaks into pieces that dissolve into nothingness.

Seconds later, a thud hits the sand as he falls over, no wings visible, no unnatural presence to be sensed.

I just lie there.

The sand dunes burst on the horizon, revealing griffon soldiers hidden under yellow blankets. They quickly close the distance, check the wounded, and pick everypony up. One of them taps at the mouthpiece he's wearing.

"Squad alpha to agent Smith. Targets secured. Over."

 _Signal acquired_

 _Tuning in_

 _..._

 _Success_

"Good job. We lost contact with squad beta so get them prepped for evac immediately. We have a witness now and the HQ will want to interrogate her. Will meet you at northern evac point. Over."

"Leave nothing here," says the commanding griffon, "We're heading home."


	26. Hope Dies (At) Last: Part I

The night fell on the desert and the chill once again started seeping into the Hailstorm's hull. We carefully put the tracking device down near the entrance to the underground bandit base and now we're waiting for somepony to come and investigate why we're not moving.

Sitting on the bridge with Ivan and Fail, I patiently watch the screens all around giving me view of various stretches of the desert. As the night progresses the optical sensors become less and less useful while the thermal scanner becomes our best friend.

"Got something interesting, kid," Ivan grins and hands me a pair of headphones, "Put this on."

"Hm?" I fasten the headset on my head and Ivan turns some dials on the machine it is connected to.

[...proceeding to investigate the area...]

A very official and strict voice rings through the headphones as Ivan gets two more pairs, gives one to Fail, and puts one on himself.

[No visuals yet. Over.]

One very careful red dot appears on the thermal scanner and slowly slinks towards the bandit base entrance. Two other dots appear, following the first one in a safe distance.

[A construction resembling a trap door found. Over.]

[Wait for the rest! Over.]

The two dots covering the first one get closer and run around for a short while.

[No patrols in the vicinity. You're free to move in. Over.]

"Celestia's holy balls," Ivan curses, "That many?"

I have to agree it was an extremely good idea to lure them there first and wait up here. The assault unit of twenty more doubtlessly well-armed Legion soldiers appears on the scanner. The fact that they appear only as red dots doesn't make them less terrifying.

[The rear guard will stay up here and take care of the villagers or running bandits. The others assume a one-three-one pattern and go in. Over.]

Three griffons spread out of the entrance and the remaining twenty split into a group of four going down the trap door, a group of twelve serving as a main attack force, and the remaining four covering their advance.

As they all descend we lose track of their progress since they meld into one large but weak red blob indicating the base. The radio signals are strong enough though.

[Five hostiles in the entrance guard room. Over.]

Few seconds of silence.

[Hostiles eliminated. No casualties on our side. Over.]

[Good job. Everyone split into fours and spread out, this place is a maze. Over.]

A duo of red dots appears on the scanner.

[This is rear guard. Two bandits returning from patrol. Should we take them out here or do you want them down there? Over.]

[No mercy. Over.]

Our optical feed erupts with light as three griffons shoot at the unaware nomads. They don't need to fire a second time.

[Patrol eliminated. Proceeding to remove head and limbs. Over.]

"What the hay?"

"Huh?"

Both Ivan and Fail turn to me at the same time.

"Yeeeeah," I scratch my head and grin stupidly, "I may have forgotten to tell you that some sort of magic was involved that made the bandits rise again after they died. A survivor of the attack on Golden Sands told us and she apparently told the griffons as well."

Ivan facehoofs while Fail just shudders and returns back to watching the screens.

[Group alpha. We found what looks to be the main storage room. Guards eliminated. Precautions taken. Over.]

[Group beta. Found the armory. Guards neutralized. Waiting for orders. Over.]

[Delta here. Eliminate and cut to bits. We're not taking any risks and they'll be executed anyway for an attack on an Imperial town. Over.]

[Orders recieved. Beta out.]

[Gamma here, sir. Found the barracks. Twenty hostiles and counting. Waiting for orders. Over.]

[Do not engage. Wait until we have the rest of the place on lockdown. Eliminate anyone trying to go in or out only. Over.]

[Alpha here. Treasury found. Guards eliminated. Nowhere else to go. One member seriously wounded. These guys were much more alert than the rest. Immortality confirmed. Over.]

[Delta here. One of you split up and carry the wounded guy back to the entrance. The rest of you backtrack and keep exploring. Give me details on immortality. Over.]

[Orders recieved. Targets rise up immediately even after sustaining a normally fatal wound. Some sort of black... smoke swirls around them and they fight as if nothing happened. Removing limbs stops them from attacking or moving but as long as they have a head they'll at least bite. Removing the head in itself while the limbs are still attached does nothing, not even impairs sight. Only after the dead are completely dismembered the black smoke dissipates and they stop.]

A short break.

[You forgot over. Over.]

[Fuck this, delta. Over.]

To the griffon leader's credit, he doesn't seem bothered by his subordinate breaking the protocol. The situation is unique enough to warrant shaken nerves.

[Beta here. Found the prison with the villagers. Equestrian agents still missing. Waiting for orders. Over.]

[Delta to epsilon, go help beta with the prisoners. Beta, keep looking for the primary targets. Over.]

[Beta, orders recieved.]

[Epsilon, orders recieved.]

[Alpha split to anyone listening! Jackson woke up and attacked me, had to kill him. I'm seriously wounded and need evac. Over. WAIT NO! FUCK I FORGOT TO CUT HI-]

[Delta to alpha split! Answer!]

Silence.

[Delta to alpha, how is your situation?]

[Shitting our pants but safe, delta.]

[Backtrack. Kill alpha split and Jackson. Meet us back in the front guard room. Over.]

[You think that black stuff... spreads? Over.]

[Just get back here. As soon as the villagers are outside and we find something on our main targets we're torching this unholy place with everyone inside. Over.]

[Orders recieved. Alpha out.]

[...alpha split to everyone listening, he he he... you're not leaving.]

[Delta to the rear guard. Do you copy? Over.]

[Rear guard safe and sound, boss. The hell is going on? Over.]

[Delta here. As soon as the villagers get out return back to Smith in Golden Sands. We'll be going north with the primary targets. Over.]

[Two of us can go help down there, sir. Over.]

[Negative. Just keep the civilians safe and get out. Over.]

[Orders recieved. Rear guard out.]

[...alpha to everyone listening... there's more of us now... it's all... over.]

The voice chuckles and the griffon chatter cuts off for a long time.

[Epsilon here. Coming in with the civs. Do not shoot! Over.]

[Good job, epsilon. Escort the villagers to the rear guard and come back here. Bring all excessive firebombs. Over.]

[Gamma, how are things on your end?]

[The barracks is still quiet. No attempts at getting in or out. Ove- AW SHIT!]

[GAMMA! REPORT!]

[Gamma retreating back to the front guard room! Alpha got here and attacked. The commotion woke up the bandits. We set off the firebombs, the barracks are on fire. Minor bullet wounds sustained. Over.]

[...IT BUUUUUUUUUUUUURNS!]

[...he he he, just like you will...]

[Beta to delta! Primary target A found. Moving in to secure him. Getting him on comms. Over.]

[Alright, whoever is there, listen up! You gotta get out or you're fucked. The thing spreads either if you're near death or if you lose your head. It's a magical influence. As for this place, there's an escape tunnel leading east behind the leader's suite. Are you here to kill the nomads or save the townsfolk?]

[Delta here. Cromach, I suppose?]

[Yeah. Equestrian Royal Guard.]

[We know who you are. We're here to secure you, Choking Darkness, and Mistake and get you to the Holy City.]

[The Emperor and the Black Ops want to see us? I hate to break it to you but unless you really want to piss princess Luna off I wouldn't try to force anything.]

[Let me be straight for a while, soldier to soldier. I don't give a fuck about you and the others, especially after my guys turned against me. Let the diplomats sort all that nonsense out later and let's all get out of here as fast as we can.]

[Sounds cool. What about the villagers though?]

[They are already out and being led by a group of my soldiers back to Golden Sands.]

[Good. Let's get Darky and leave. Mistake wasn't captured with us, no clue where he is.]

I jump out of the captain's chair and grin, watching the thermal sensor show a large red group moving west.

"Now's out chance. The villagers are out and the Legion squad has enough trouble. Get us down there, Fail," I order and turn the ship intercom on, "Holy, Five, Skullbreaker, Void - we're moving out in a minute! Get ready to fight."

"You sure about this? Undying enemies, griffon soldiers..."

Ivan trails off.

"I don't want to give the soldiers a chance to regroup outside. The place should be full of small halls where their numbers shouldn't matter and Holy Light knows some shield spells to protect us from the bullets for a short while. Do you have some headsets like the griffons have so I can keep listenin on their comms?"

"No. Can't catch the signal up here and send it back down there. It works for them because one of them must have a mobile radio booster with them, most likely the guys around the boss. We don't have anything of that sort here so you gotta stay grouped."

I manage to catch few more things before we land.

[Beta here. Looking for the escape tunnel to cause a cave in. Target A is with us. Target B should be somewhere around. Over.]

[Delta and epsilon here. We're guarding the entrance and facing heavy opposition. We'll hold until you get back here. None of these bastards are getting out of here alive. Over.]

[...you are... correct.]

In short five minutes we're set and ready to descend to the darkness. If I understand the comms correctly than there should be a group of at least fifteen griffons soldiers holding something around thirty bandits off near the entrance.

"Alright, guys, get ready! We have to kill everypony who doesn't give up. Knock the rest out and leave. We're looking for a tall, white griffon, and a thestral mare with black coat and red accessories."

"REDY KAPTN!"

"They'll fall."

"Sure thing, boss."

"Let us not spend more time here than we need to."

Holy Light descends the short stairs first, horn lighting the area. Skullbreaker goes next, serving as a riot shield protecting me and Void. Five, capable of sniffing out and taking down any ambush first covers our backs.

This isn't right.

"Shouldn't there be torches or lights around?" Holy comments as we lurk through the dark passages, "And, you know, sounds of fighting?"

He's correct. As we enter what has to be what the griffon leader called the front guard room I'm happy for the lack of illumination because I don't have to look at the massacre. It seems like the bandits hit this place with everything they had, ignoring tactical thinking or their safety. There are bits of griffons everywhere, some with Legion armor but most just wearing white clothes native to nomads.

Thankfully, everypony in my group seems well used to the sight of death.

"Look for Cromach and Choking," I whisper.

"Mom's not here," Five immediately whispers back, "Can't smell her."

"Mom?"

"Dad's marefriend, that's all."

Holy and Five go through the bodies while Skully checks out the hall leading deeper into the base.

"There are few white griffons but no pure white ones or too big," Holy salutes and laughs at himself, "Sorry, old habit from the army."

"Not gonna be mad at you for staying cool. Let's go on then, this place can't be THAT big."

Bodies are everywhere, charred and cut to pieces, but no fires are burning whatsoever, torches or the remnants of firebombs.

A sound of wood and metal clanking breaks the silence. Without a word I turn to Five who points to one particular passage. Holy immediately takes point and we follow him through the dark halls. The place is way too quiet considering the fight must have ended at most few minutes ago.

"AAH!" I yell out shortly as Five taps on my back, "The heck?"

"Somepony is following us," Five whispers, undisturbed by my reaction, "They aren't afraid whatsoever and I can't smell much with all the corpses but I hear shuffling and scraping of fur against bricks."

The image of the carnage in the front guard room returns. Quite a lot of the bodies weren't...

"We are walking into a trap, aren't we?"

A green gleam passes through Five's protective plating and sharp claws grow out of his hooves and in other various places.

"Cutting limbs and heads off, right?" he grins mercilessly and I can finally see the true nature of the innocent dreamling.

*CRACK*

"OW!" a high-pitched voice curses and adds much more quietly, "Bucking door!"

"HEY, MOM!" Five yells and runs off ahead of us.

He clears the door into a wider hall and gets flung by something accompanied by a shower of sparks and a impact of steel on steel. The immediate snarling proves he's alright.

As the rest of us get through the door, we see a long hall with many wooden doors on the sides, one dreamling curiously sniffing the air, and a tall griffon standing on his hind paws and wielding a large scimitar in both arms who jumps backwards and his eyes dart from Five to the rest of us.

He blinks.

"Void? The hell are you doing here?"

"Apparently doing what Luna could not - saving you, Cromach," the black unicorn smiles, "Where is miss Darkness?"

"Right here," whispers an unpleasantly familiar voice next to my ear and I can feel a blade scratch my neck, "and she's pretty curious what this sack of crap is doing here."

I don't dare move a muscle. Stupid, sneaky batponies.

"MOM!" Five waves his hoof at her.

"I'm not that good at recognizing your bunch. Which one are ya?"

"The Crystal Empire one!" Five answers cheerily.

The blade leaves my neck and slides back into Choking's horseshoe. Not that her stare becomes any warmer but I feel a little better when I see how she looks at Holy Light. She hates me but the stare says Holy has to die... painfully. What interests me a little is that she has her normal bat wings back instead of the magical constructs from last time but now is not the time to ask.

"We're not enemies, guys, at least compared to the rest of the griffons here," I start bending the truth a little, "Remember the Lightbringer? I've got a ship here ready to take you back to Equestria."

"There WILL be questions later," Choking hisses.

"Calm down, Darky," Cromach nods towards the door behind us, "Let's blow this joint."

"I will have words with you as well later, idiot," she growls.

"You can't tell me anything I haven't told myself while sitting here."

"Don't worry, I'll find something."

Moving quickly, we rush through the dungeon back and pass the empty guard room.

"Aw shit!" Cromach raises his sword as we get out into the desert and spot the figures waiting for us at the edge of light cast by Holy's horn.

Every soldier, every bandit is there, dark veins throbbing on their boddies and staring at us with wide smiles.

"Those two belong to me," every beak says at once, "They've helped me break him once already and will be his complete downfall soon."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" screams Cromach.

Choking growls again but I can't help noticing she's looking at the white griffon rather than the horde of darkness.

 _Get the two... kill the rest..._

Ivan and Fail have to see what's going on down here but there's nothing the Hailstorm has that can help us here. They mustn't land otherwise the helping hooves I hired will just get overrun and corrupted themselves.

"Don't hold back," I command, "They're already dead! Cut them to bits."

The wave of enemies hits us. Cutting to bits seems easy until the point where you find out the enemies outnumber you ten to one and have no trouble just piling on you and taking you down.

Cromach swings his two-hander with practiced look and cleans up the area around him. Holy blocks attack after attack with his spells and his sword, glowing golden, slices through the horde with no resistance. Five dances around me and rips anypony getting too close to shreds. It's a good effort but my weapons are useless, a gun and a lance aren't made for dismembering enemies so I'm happy when Skullbreaker joins in my defense and pulverizes a griffon to goo with his warhammer.

Fire flashes and roars and Skullbreaker drops to the ground. Something like a punch throws me a short distance as well. Everything is blurry and my ears are ringing. The desert night is suddenly much colder than before.

The revived Legion soldiers reload their guns and aim again.

Five jumps in front of me and his armor deflects the bullets. Holy's defensive spell shatters and he drops to the sand instantly. Skullbreaker's body twitches as another shot makes him stop struggling to get up. With vision swimming, I can only watch as the horde groups with me and Five in their midst.

"You have intruded upon my realm for far too long," roars a deep voice and the desert lights up with blue glimmer, "Thankfully, you chose the wrong place to defy me!"

A howl pierces the night and blue swirls engulf the enemies. Where they touch, the body rots and falls over, black smoke dissipating. Soon, everything is over but instead of getting up, I feel chill slowly seeping deeper and deeper into my heart.

Fail's legs wobble, he stumbles and falls over. I manage to turn my head.

Void is standing there, not the unicorn but the menacing presence I remember from Ponyville. An alicorn, standing a head taller than princess Celestia and almost twice as broad in shoulders with wings burning with black, purple-tipped flames. His golden, glowing eyes focus at me and he smiles.

The souls of the fallen rise and gather around him. Suddenly I know why he couldn't just do this himself, why he can't simply appear in this world like the princesses can. The sand around him turns to ash, the air becomes unbreathable, and I can feel myself knocking on the gate of the underworld. While Celestia's presence makes the world warmer, his power brings peace... and end to everything.

Launching a gold flare upwards, Void shakes his head.

"This is not over, Icy Gaze. You have one more pony to save."

He wraps his impossibly large wings around the gathered souls and burns away into nothingness with them. It dawns on me that if I ever want to defy Luna I'm going to need much more than I have now otherwise-

Let's just say that I'm now one of very few mortals who have seen a furious alicorn.

 _You cannot win, Void... I have agents everywhere._

The desert goes dark again but this time it's just night, nothing else...

...and me falling unconscious from bloodloss, of course.

I blink.

"He's waking up, Ivan."

"I can see that. Get back to flying!"

"...'s going on?" I croak, throat parched.

"Well, kid, you tell me! We see all those griffons get out of the entrance, start bombing them, they get up again and ignore us, we clean our diapers and stay here. Then you go out, get shot to pieces, all equipment goes crazy, blue kaboom, there's only you left."

"How is... everypony?"

"The griffon, Five, and the batpony are unhurt, just tired. Skullbreaker is seriously wounded but he should get better with enough rest. Holy Light is about as hurt as you which means it's nothing serious. Void is gone."

"Don't worry about him. He's fine."

Groaning, I push myself up on the bed in Hailstorm's captain quarters. Contrary to Ivan's orders, Fail is rolling some bandages and breathing heavily. Ivan catches my stare.

"The crazy pony's a pretty good field medic. Too bad he can't OBEY!" Ivan grins, "Get back behind the control panel, kid. I need to talk to the cap myself."

"It's fine, go." I smile at seeing the reluctant batpony look from Ivan to me.

He sets the prepared bandages down and leaves.

"Good. What now then?" Ivan asks, "We've got the guys and Void paid up front. Are we done, captain ICY GAZE?"

"No," I shake my head and try few tentative steps. My chest hurts but I can move well enough, "We still have one more guy to find and I think our best bet is to follow the second tracking signal. Sorry about the name thing."

"Meh, everypony in Stalliongrad uses fake names, no problem with me. You mean the signal up north?"

"Yeah. If it's nothing then screw this, we're going home. Remind me to find a really good mage for the crew when we get back to Stalliongrad. Holy is decent but he's more a hoofsoldier with a bit of magic. We're gonna need a specialist."

"Sure. Now have a rest and I'll wake you up when we get there."

"Later. I'll have a short look at how things are going. I want to squeeze a little bit more out of this mission."

"What do you mean?"

"The targets have no idea we weren't sent by the crown. When we're back in Equestria we're gonna lock them up and make Luna pay ransom."

"She'll come personally and kill you, kid."

"That's why we'll be looking for a mage, Ivan."

"Stars above us," Ivan waves his hooves above his head, "I wish I had your kind of balls. Not your kind of brains though."

"Shoo, old stallion! I have a plan to think up."

"Yeah yeah, if you need anything I'll be on the bridge. Cromach is there and he loves talking about mechanical stuff. Finally a young mind interested in-"

He slams the door shut.

"Keep reminding me, you old bugger," I mumble to myself and head out as well. I'm not too keen on talking to Choking Darkness because she's a bitch and it would most likely be pointless but I still have to try.

I'm not sure where she might be but as I head to the common room to check up on Five and others I spot her talking to the dreamling and Holy Light.

"Captain Icy Gaze," I cringe as Choking smiles sadistically, "Not a prisoner anymore?"

"Temporarily," I nod, unpleasantly aware of the truth in my statement, "Is everypony okay?"

"Nothing serious," Holy coughs, trying to get up from the bed.

"Don't bother," I wave my hoof dismissively and turn to Choking, "We're looking for Mistake. Cromach said he wasn't captured with the two of you. Got any idea where he might be?"

Choking's physically hurt expression at hearing the name almost makes me laugh, almost.

"I have no idea where Blaze is."

"Blaze?"

"Mistake's real, if I ignore the details, name - Blazing Light. Now there's something Holy should answer. I though Blaze had only one brother, Searing Light. It's written in the official documents in Canterlot castle."

Holy grins.

"Blinding Light, our father, was an idiot and we didn't see eye to eye much. All that Silver Sun zealotry, I couldn't take it and left home when I was sixteen and Blazing wasn't even born yet. Searing Light, unfortunately, ate all that nonsense up and when he was of age Blinding disowned me completely and stripped my name of any connection to the Light family. I met him about a month ago again and I think he got a bit wiser with age so we ended up talking and drinking. He said there was one mare who beat him hard enough to make his head work right again."

"Oh," Choking blushes, "The hospital thing?"

"You and some earthpony titan. His words, not mine."

"I'm not sure how to tell you," Choking, well, chokes, "but Searing Light is dead and so is, as far as I know, the rest of your family aside from Blaze."

"And branded outcasts for high treason, I know. One thing from which Blinding's stupidity saved me," Holy shakes his head, "Tell me the whole story, please."

"It's really long."

"I think we've got time. Captain?" he looks at me.

"We're now following a griffon tracking device that might lead us to something. This ship is really fast so with how hurt everypony is I might need the help of our... guests. When the intercom rings get ready on the upper deck and... sorry, Choking."

"WHAT?"

"For hunting you and Blazing in Ponyville. It was just a job and I am a mercenary. If I knew the truth I probably would have refused, probably."

Choking shakes her head.

"You... can't even begin to understand what you did. Nightmare Moon just used you but you still hurt us more than anypony else before. You destroyed our only hope at being together," she takes a deep breath, "Just get out of my sight."

It's not like I'm genuinely sorry. For the money I would have done it again easily. It's just that... seeing them in person... how they need to be together and what they did to make it happen.

For a second I wish some day, some time... somepony did the same for me.

Biting my lip, I leave for the bridge.

The situation there is marginally different. Ivan is listening, ears perked, to something Cromach is saying while Fail is trying to ignore the imposing griffon.

"Hello, captain!" Fail breathes out and smiles as I walk in, "Feeling better?"

"Worse," I mumble, "but that doesn't matter. How far is the signal, Ivan?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," he looks at me distractedly, "At this speed we should be there by sunrise. I advise having a rest, kid."

"Same goes for you, grandpa."

"I'll have a nap soon. This young griffon has just been telling me about the husks he saw when he was in that mirror world you talked about. Do you know they sacrifice prisoners to create them and use them for law enforcement?"

"They do all sorts of useful tasks," Cromach corrects him, "but mostly they are used in the military."

"Heh, I should go there. Perhaps finally somepony might find use for me," Fail mumbles and Cromach turns to him, "Eeerm, sorry."

Fail tries to look as small as possible as the griffon examines him.

"You remind me of a very good... friend whom I have horribly failed. He said stupid things like that quite often too. Also, he was completely wrong and so are you. I think you just need the right pony to tell you."

"Exactly," Ivan grins, "You might be weird but you learned to fly this thing way faster than I expected so you can't be that dumb. That, or I'm an excellent teacher."

"Yeah," I add, "Without you I wouldn't have found the cheapest crew I could in such a short time and I would now be lying in my bed covered in motor oil and duct tape because Ivan is better with machinery than ponies."

Fail chuckles despite being red as a tomato and his ears twitch when Cromach scratches his head.

"Trust yourself a little. Or if you can't, trust those around you and hope they don't fail you," Cromach stands up to leave, "Sorry, Ivan, let's talk later. I need a bit of peace and quiet to think about things."

"Sure thing. Don't forget to think about bombs though! I need better BOMBS!"

"You okay here?" I ask.

"Fine and dandy."

"Mhm."

"Good, I'll have a rest then. Having one more breathing hole can't be healthy," I turn to leave.

"You go too, batty," Ivan nudges Fail, "You'll switch with me in the morning. I won't be sleeping anytime soon with all the ideas Cromach talked about."

With Fail going to sleep on the floor of my cabin, in a comfortable sleeping bag of course, I can't help thinking about what Cromach said.

"Trust those around you and hope they don't fail you."

And even more about what he left unsaid.

 _"Like I did."_


	27. Hope Dies (At) Last: Part II

The griffon soldiers had a mobile base with them with a small communications tower, supplies, medical kits, and reserve equipment. They treated Heavy's wounds, bound Blazing up, performed emergency procedures on Dawn, and one of them carried me on his back for most of the trip through the desert. It turns out we were much further north than we anticipated, just on the edge of the desert, and in few hours of forced march the griffons brought us to a small town with train tracks leading in and out. Fortunately, the ten Legion soldiers were used to braving the sands and had no trouble carrying three stretchers and me softly enough not to cause Dawn's wounds to get worse. With everypony aside from me either sleeping or unconscious, we entered the settlement and the soldiers unoccupied by carrying us left while the others looked for a place to stay for the night.

 _Location:_

 _\- Griffon Empire_

 _\- !no map entry found!_

 _Objectives:_

 _\- N/A_

 _Status:_

 _\- Overload 0%_

 _\- Damage 97%_

 _\- Energy balance +4%_

 _Party:_

 _\- Self (immobilized/needs rest for tissue recovery)_

 _\- Heavy Hoof (piercing wound through the chest/treated/asleep)_

 _\- Dawn (ruptured organs/status critical/unconscious)_

 _\- Blazing Light (bound/exhausted/asleep)_

 _Note: Ask Twilight Sparkle for a different way to store magic._

Night falls and the soldiers put Heavy into a bed, Blazing as well, although they still don't unlock the shackles on his legs, and leave Dawn on the floor with one of the soldiers in our room periodically checking her pulse. My knowledge about surgery and first aid is limited so I can't help in any way aside from seeing where the blood seeps out of the damaged organs.

Knowing is useless if you can't act upon it.

 _Scanning..._

 _ID: Dawn_

 _Skeleton undamaged. Ruptured stomach. Heavy bruising around the area. Muscle tissue not responding._

 _Possible solutions: Tighten the already applied bandages, stimulate muscles._

 _Possible results: Muscle tightening might slow the stomach leakage (16%) Death (3%)_

I wish Twilight had the presence of mind to install some surgical subroutines. For now I have to work only with my general knowledge of anatomy though.

"Nameless griffon soldier number seven," I address the one keeping tabs on Dawn

"What?" he turns to me, feathers rustling.

"Dawn needs immediate medical assistance."

"We know. One of us is already looking for a doctor," he nods and taps on a piece of plastic in his ear, "Graves, how is it going in the hospital?"

My sensors catch a duplicate of the question. So, the earpiece is a radio transmitter. Wonder if I can tune in...

[Graves, how is it going in the hospital?]

Simple enough.

[Doctor found. Be back in twenty.]

Perhaps I can join in too.

"The wound is-"

Wrong output.

[The wound is getting worse, sir. Can you ask the doctor if tightening the muscle tissue around the bleeding stomach would help or not?]

[WHAT? Simmons, what the hell is this?]

[I think the robopony tapped into our comms, Graves. What about the doctor thing?]

[Switch to frequency B, Simmons. We can't let anyone listen in on us.]

Simmons turns the dial on his earpiece.

 _Scanning..._

 _Radio signals found: 3_

 _ID: Shifting Sands (easy listening)_

 _ID: News Channel 6 (talk radio)_

 _ID: N/A (no description)_

"I'm on B, Graves.-"

[-What about the doctor thing?]

[He said it would help but just tightening the bandages wasn't localized enough and might cause even more damage. Just stay put until we arrive.]

Simmons looks at me and repeats the message. I experimentally move my hoof. Without a weight attached to it I can slowly move. That might be enough.

"Take me to her, please," I ask the griffon.

He shrugs and carries me over.

"Can you assist me?" I slide the grasping claws hidden in my hoof out. I still have one set left even after the black crystal in Twilight's lab broke the set on my other forehoof.

"What do you need?"

"Can you uncover your stomach?"

"With those claws around? Not on your life!" he steps away, ready to pounce at me.

"Please! I can precisely stimulate the muscles with localized bursts of electricity but I need to know which muscles react correctly."

He rubs his temples.

"Give me a second," he taps rhytmically on the door of the room and an another griffon enters, "Watch the robopony! If he even moves funny, shoot his head off."

The other griffon simply nods and Simmons takes his armor off and sits down.

"I need to measure the effects," I stretch one claw out an retract the rest, "Tell me if it is too much."

The griffon's muscles are amazingly well defined so it is fairly easy to guess where to start. I put a claw roughly where Dawn's wound would be and send a weak pulse.

"Nothing," he says when I look at him questioningly.

"Tickles," is his comment on my second attempt.

"OH EMPEROR!" he twitches and I hear a click of a gun from behind.

"Sorry," I raise both my front legs, "I overdid it."

Simmons shakes his head and waves at the soldier behind me.

"It's fine. The spasm just took me by surprise. Keep going."

In one minute and forty seven seconds I think I'm pretty sure I can tighten Dawn's wound, maybe... if pony and griffon muscles react in a similar way.

"One more thing," I tap Simmons' chest and note the reaction. Then I tap the same spot on Dawn, noting the reaction is much weaker. She's an earthpony so her chest muscles will always be weaker than those of somepony with wings.

Should I do it?

The doctor will be here in about fifteen minutes. My attempt might kill her. It seems unnecessary but...

I scan Dawn's stomach again to see the blood flow slowly but steadily rise. Another dose of painkillers this soon after the first one will kill both the pain and Dawn herself. That, or cause some other sort of damage. If I succeed she might get a slightly higher chance of survival. If I fail then she'll die for sure.

I can't move. Not due to damage but to all the conflicting signals I'm sending.

"I don't know whether I should do it, I need help deciding," I look at the two griffons, the... real, living creatures, "There's now a thirty seven percent chance of my help increasing Dawn's chance of survival and there's now a five percent chance of my attempt putting her beyond saving. Tell me what is right, please!"

The griffons look at one another.

"That is up to you, whatever you are. For us, the protocol is to do as much as we can on the spot and not wait for the help that might not even come. For all you know the doctor might trip on his way here and break his neck. In the end there is noone else other than you who makes the choice and has to live with it."

Well, all I have to do then is not fail, right?

Five claws, five points around the rupture. Weak pulse - no reaction. Adjusting for the difference in muscle strength between Simmons and Dawn.

 _Energy balance: - 13%_

Do not fail!

Do not fail!

Do not fail!

Blood flow increases! That shouldn't be happening.

Waitwaitwait! Calm down, keep going. Weaken the pulses, too much pressure. Juuuust right.

Freeze!

Blood flow slows down. I need to keep the muscles tightened until the doctor comes and pray to anypony listening my analysis based on tiny scraps of information was correct.

"Out of the way!" Simmons picks me up, "The doc is here."

"Huh?"

A griffon I presume is Graves, the door guard, and the doctor take Dawn out of the room. Has it been that long? It felt like seconds.

 _Local time_

 _22:38_

 _!warning! energy reserves low_

"Thank you, sir," I smile at the griffon from my place on the floor.

"No problem. We might not be friends but we are not enemies, our goals just differ."

"Good night."

"I'll be at the door. I was just here to keep watch on the wounded mare," Simmons nods and leaves, carefully shutting the door and turning the lights off.

 _Shutting down all unnecessary functions_

 _..._

 _Motor functions off_

 _Sensory functions off_

 _Processing capacity set to 25%_

 _Entering safe mode_

Good. Now to finish something that has bothered me from the fight with Mistake off. My database entries are painstakingly inaccurate. Twilight did what she could but the entire structure was wrong and inefficient and the content is doubtful at best. The first thing that needs to be done is removing the redundancies to clear some memory space. It would be a good idea to update the greatest current known threat to a new standard to help me get the details necessary to deal with it.

 _Load database entry: Mistake_

 _..._

 _Species: ascended unicorn_

 _Primary color: black_

 _Secondary color: blue_

 _Cutie mark: img_979_whiteCircle_

 _Standing: neutral_

 _Threat Level: deadly_

 _Name: Mistake_

 _Status: Nightguard_

 _Damage type: N/A_

 _Notes: possible target_

 _update_

I have a 3d model of everypony saved so there is no reason for duplicate descriptors.

 _Name: Mistake_

 _Species: ascended unicorn / M_

 _Cutie mark: img_979_whiteCircle_

 _Standing: ally_

 _Threat Level: deadly_

 _Status: Nightguard_

 _Damage type: physical(extreme), thaumic(minor), other(deadly)_

 _Connections: Luna, Void, Heavy Hoof, Cromach, Choking Darkness_

 _Notes: duality with Blazing Light - the same pony split into two somehow (Self), keep under observation (Twilight), father of Guiding Light (Twilight)_

Considering how easily I got taken out in the fight I think I might as well leave out the damage descriptions because they say nothing. What should replace them though? I know that the magic used to fight us wasn't Mistake's but it might still help in sorting things out.

 _Damage type:_

 _\- natural: hoof to hoof combat, telekinesis_

 _\- thaumic: physical (storm of sharp shards)_

 _\- other: fire, ice, mental_

 _\- special: movement prediction_

I know it's not correct but until I have a way to distinguish between Mistake and the entity that controlled him in the desert I'll keep it like this. Wait... there was somepony who exhibited magic-like abilites that didn't register on thaumic sensors. I was confused at the time but princess Celestia bends one's mental state with just her presence.

 _Compare: Celestia x Mistake_

 _Abilities:_

 _\- natural: high strength, telekinesis_

 _\- thaumic: unknown_

 _\- divine: fire (aspect of the Sun), mental (improves morale)_

 _\- special: alicorn regeneration_

 _Abilities:_

 _\- natural: hoof to hoof combat, telekinesis_

 _\- thaumic: physical (storm of sharp shards)_

 _\- divine: fire (), ice (), mental (breaks morale)_

 _\- special: movement prediction_

Still grossly insufficient but I've got nothing better now. I need to find an alicorn magic user to experiment with. Princess Luna seemed to be interested in me so it's either her or Twilight.

With nothing productive to do, I shut everything down.

 _Local time_

 _07:47_

 _!status! basic motor functions restored_

 _Starting all services_

I experimentally push with my hooves against the wooden floor. It budges, or I budge, and I stand up. Kicking my legs carefully, I note that anything other than slow walk is still far away. The sound of my hooves tapping must have woken Heavy up as he yawns, stretches out his front legs, takes a sharp breath, and rubs his chest.

"Sorry for interrupting your rest," I tell him.

"N-yaaawn-No problem. I usually rise early anyway," he looks around, "Where is Dawn?"

"The doctor took her away yesterday evening."

"I hope he's a good one then."

"The chances of her survival with proper medical assistance are high."

"Good to know," Heavy stretches again but slams his back on the bed again with nothing better to do, "What about the griffons?"

"They offered assistance but I believe we are prisoners."

A rustle from the second bed in the room tells me that Blaze is awake as well.

"Good morning," I greet him. I suppose it's a good idea to be nice to an unknown pony.

The bronze changeling-pony-whatever props himself up and looks at me, blinking and still drooling. His head turns around and when he spots Heavy-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

-he screams.

"What?" Heavy leans back. As soon as he speaks Blaze goes silent.

"Oh, sorry," he scratches his head.

"What was that? You looked like you could see for a moment."

"Well, the truth is I can't see but back in Canterlot I felt I was completely useless after the explosion in Manehattan. It was fun having Chokey and Crom," he wraps his front legs around himself and hangs his head low, "having them lead me around on a leash for a while but I couldn't even go to the bathroom without bumping into walls, much less walk around. After all, they had their own lives to live and I was just wasting their time."

"Blazing, they loved to be around you. As ponies say - time you enjoyed wasting wasn't wasted. There's no reason to think even less of yourself than you usually do."

"Let's be blunt here, Heavy. I failed... again. Just like I always do. When princess Twilight offered me the vacation in Golden Sands I invited both Chokey and Crom as a thank you for not leaving me but... I just made them targets."

"Whose targets?"

"The Nightmare's. When me and mirror Sombra's soul fought possessed Luna in Ponyville I stole a bit of its power so I could barely stand even with Luna. It worked in the end. By the way, thank your coltfriend Cross because he stopped Luna, not me. I just gave him an opening to get to her. Chokey told me what happened after I, well, burned away."

"So the Nightmare is after you?"

"Not as such. The dark power I stole is slowly becoming mine, giving the Nightmare less and less opportunities to act. Back in Canterlot, especially after you told me not to be afraid of my own name, I felt I could actually try to work around my blindness, to make Crom and Chokey happy to be with me. I worked out a little thing to help me 'see' a little. It works similar to echolocation, from what Chokey told me, but I send magic instead of sound and it's extremely short-ranged. It also makes everypony look REALLY creepy. Imagine everything being black with white outlines but some materials work in a weird way so you basically look like a huge black pony silouhette with white strands where mane should be and gaping white holes instead of eyes. Not a good thing to see first thing in the morning. I can't recognize anypony until they speak."

"Ah, good to know, sorry."

"You can't have known, no harm done. Well, after we got back from Manehattan my magic started freaking out somewhat. Now I know it was the Nightmare trying to get another pathway to this world. The first thing was this," Blaze opens his mouth and three long blue-black tentacles come out, one of which pokes Heavy's muzzle, "The Nightmare probably thought that when my friends found out about it they'd leave me and I would be vulnerable. Heh, it didn't count on Chokey and Crom being the biggest perverts in Canterlot."

Heavy snickers.

"I can imagine."

"Unfortunately, its second attempt was far more effective. It managed to transform me back to my changeling-ish form."

"Why is that bad?" Heavy raises both eyebrows, "I mean you looked pretty cute as Mistake but I like you a little more like this. It reminds me of when I was a recruit and you a drill sargeant. Good times, no angry gods, no evil tyrants, just me and Sharp and you and Darky."

"Why is that bad? Do you have an idea how griffons react when they see a changeling?"

"No..." Heavy leans back and shakes his head in realization. Blaze nods and smiles bitterly.

"Crom couldn't handle it. In his eyes I turned from a unicorn he wanted to buck every day for the rest of his life to a chitinous monstrosity he'd been taught to fear and hate ever since he was a little whatever young griffons are called."

"I'm gonna beat his sorry ass-"

"No, Heavy, you aren't. I know how difficult it is to ignore something that has basically been engraved into your bones so I can't blame him. With just that the Nightmare won, almost. You know I'm not the most... stable pony and I wasn't in the best shape when somepony attacked Golden Sands."

"The nomads."

"Those weren't normal nomads, their leader had to be an agent of the Nightmare. Unless hit by my power or completely dismembered they couldn't die. The strangest thing was that somepony knew the attack would happen. Somepony riled the local Legion garrison up but it wasn't enough."

"How did you end up in the desert then?"

"I was able to find Crom during the fight but my 'sight' magic is exhausting because, well, I made it and I suck at spells. I could barely make out anything more than screams and fire all around me but I recognized him being overrun, it's sort of difficult to misinterpret a tall griffon swinging a two-handed battleaxe, and I lost it."

"It was you who blew the city up?"

"What? No... I killed everypony?" Blaze's mouth hangs open.

"No, you didn't. Everypony who died died in the fight, not in the explosion. You just levelled the town. The nomads dragged all the survivors away. What happened then?"

"I have no idea. A bandit came up to me and hit me with an axe, the next thing I know I'm in the desert and with how useless the location spell is I have no clue where I am or what direction to go. With Crom and Chokey... dead..." Blaze wipes his eyes.

"They might not be," Heavy sits on the bed next to him and wraps his forelegs around his shoulders.

"Huh?"

"The griffon soldiers scoured the town and we were able to have a look at the corpses. I think Cromach and Darky were taken by the bandits."

"WHAT? We need to get out of here!"

"We are in no shape to do such thing. I can still fight but Bucket can barely move and we have no idea how Dawn's operation went. Let's just go with the Black Ops soldiers to the headquarters in the capital city and wait for us to recover. I'm pretty sure some secret service agents will sniff us out soon enough and Luna will start with diplomacy."

"Dawn and Bucket?"

"Hello!" I wave my hoof at Blazing who comes over and examines me, poking me from time to time.

"It's a husk? No, it feels different. Who or what are you?"

"Ponyficial Intelligence made by Twilight Sparkle. I think I'd rather be a who than a what."

"I can feel something from you. You definitely aren't just a thing."

"Thank you."

"I'm just stating facts."

"There's one more thing I need to know," Heavy interrupts Blazing closely looking between my armor plates, "Who was the second you that looked like Mistake in the desert?"

"Ah, heh, I tried to avoid that one. Well, the Nightmare kept blaming me for the massacre in the town and all my past... failures. It still couldn't just take me over, I had enough control for that, so it made use of my, I use the term very loosely, split personality, the one that has always kept kicking me whenever I did something wrong. Unfortunately for me, the Nightmare is a god like Discord and their power is something mages can't even imagine using so it used it to create a second body to become its avatar and it came out looking like me, well, Mistake. Unfortunately for the Nightmare, me and my other self have been on the same side for quite a while so the Nightmare literally had an empty body stemming from me. Even worse for the Nightmare," Blazing closes his eyes for a second and focuses.

 _Enemy spotted!_

A dark-grey unicorn with blue mane and pink eyes comes out of the floor and smiles at Heavy, "I am the thief of magic."

"And now I'm in stereo."

"And now I'm in stereo."

Both Mistake and Blazing snicker.

Heavy doesn't lose his cool and just grins.

"Now you can give the black unicorn one to Cromach and the bronze changeling one to Darky, not to mention some really freaky tentacle foursomes."

Both Blazing's selves look at Heavy, mouths agape and eyes wide.

"Now that's a comment I would have expected from either of them, not you."

"Oh pleeeeease," Heavy waves his hoof dismissively, "MY coltfriend is a hybrid of a changeling and every other species living in Equestria. You think a foursome with yourself is weird? Next time you take a dragon cock in the ass while flying a mile above Canterlot overdosed on changeling love-venom we can talk about it."

"I give up," Mistake chuckles and disappears again.

"You win," Blazing covers his muzzle with a hoof, "Are we waiting for the griffons then?"

"We can't do anything without knowing how Dawn is. Let's rest as much as we can."

"I'm all for it. It's too early in the morning for me anyway."

It's not as if there's anything better to do.

 _Local time_

 _11:08_

Sharp scent of menthol fills the room and a pair of griffons bring a stretcher with Dawn lying on it, breathing unsteadily but smiling weakly at us.

"Are you okay?" Heavy asks, rising from the bed.

"Never been better," Dawn croaks weakly.

The griffons I recognize as Simmons and the door guard put the stretcher on the floor and leave, locking us up.

 _Analysis: Dawn_

 _Self-dissolving stitches in the stomach wall_

 _Self-dissolving stitches on the belly_

Well, I'm quite obviously not a doctor.

"Stop looking at me as if it was my funeral, guys," Dawn breathes heavily, every word draining her, "The doc did a good job, I think. It doesn't even hurt that much."

"Sorry about that," Blazing mumbles.

"Ah, help! It's the bad guy," Dawn giggles, "Don't worry about it. I heard some scars make even mares sexy and if I tell somepony I got it while fighting an evil unicorn wizard they'll at least buy me a drink."

"Just have a rest, Dawn," Heavy butts in, "As much as I trust princess Luna I hate all that diplomatic nonsense that might get us stuck here in the Empire for months. I'd prefer getting out of here by ourselves."

A thud and a groan from behind the door make all of us turn heads.

"I'd prefer getting a ton of money and free tickets on Changeling Invasion On Ice: Volume Two?" Heavy tests his possible luck again.

"Open the door, Skully," comes a familiar voice from the outside.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *BOOM*

The door shatters into bits of wood.

"I MEANT SEARCH THE GUARDS FOR THE DAMN KEY!" Icy Gaze yells at a tall minotaur brandishing a two-handed warhammer, "Great, now everypony will be on our asses. Holy, some shields, please! Five, guard the stairs!"

"What's going on?" Blazing asks, aiming his horn at Icy Gaze.

"Rescue party, motherlovers!" Icy grins, "We saved the citizens of Golden Sands, all unimportant details aside, and now we're coming for you which is totally planned."

My falsehood sense is off the charts but I'm not complaining and get up. Heavy jumps up first though.

"THIS ONE'S GETTING BACK UP!" screams a voice from somewhere that makes Blazing rush to the door.

"Holy!" Icy yells back, "Help her with the zombies or whatever the hay they are."

"We have a wounded here who needs careful transportation!" Heavy says firmly to Icy who looks behind him and finally notices Dawn and me.

"Oh for Celestia's sake!" Icy facehoofs, "How did you two goofballs get involved?"

"Youuuu!" Dawn groans, tries to push herself up from the stretcher and falls back on her back.

"No time for that, girl," Icy cuts her off and yells back to the hall, "Cromach! Come help Skullbreaker with the stretcher. CAREFULLY!"

"First things first," Blazing stops in front of Icy, "The soldiers here are under the Nightmare's influence?"

"Is that how it's called? Yeah, you can be pretty sure that every griffon in uniform will get back up. Can you grab a sword and start cutting?"

"That will not be necessary," Blaze focuses and Mistake appears from the floor, making everypony jump. The blackfrost wings flare and a shard impales each of the door guards, "You are safe now, guys. Find peace in death."

A green-eyed white griffon pushes Icy away and stops, staring at Blazing and Mistake who both, as much as the word can be used in 'their' special situation, stare back.

"I-" he begins.

Blazing's eyes stop at him for a moment and he hesitantly raises a hoof to step forward.

"No time, lovebirds," Icy breaks the frozen moment, "Get Dawn and there are other soldiers outside who need to be stopped."

Mistake and Blazing run out as one, not that they have a choice, leaving Cromach blankly staring into the room. Heavy doesn't wait and punches the griffon hard.

"That's just the first one you deserve, you pile of crap! Now grab the other end of the stretcher," he points at where Dawn is lying and Skullbreaker is waiting, "and pull your head out of your ass. If a minotaur thinks faster than you I wonder how you're still alive."

With that he runs out, fuming. I can't really run but I follow as fast as I can.

The brown hall on the second floor is slick with gore but there's nopony who seems intent on hurting us here anymore. The stretcher is being carried right behind me and Icy is covering our backs. The sound of breaking furniture and glass is coming from downstairs. When I get down as well there's a changeling-like creature currently slamming the head of a griffon soldier into the bar counter repeatedly.

"Hey, dad!" he yells out cheerily when Mistake bursts through the main door into the streets.

"Hey, dad?" he grins again when he spots Blazing slowly walking through the large room and stops brutalizing the griffon, scratching his head tilted to the side.

"Which one are you?" Blazing smiles.

"The Crystal Empire one! Why is there two of you?"

"More of me to love, little guy."

"WOHOO!" the changeling's hoof gleams green and an appearing sharp blade cuts the griffon's head off. There don't seem to be any civilians left, only armored griffons, dead armored griffons.

The street outside is clear. Everpony is hiding and waiting for some sort of soldiers or police force. A shadow is cast over the closest buildings by a strangely shaped airship hovering just above them.

When everypony leaves the tavern Icy Gaze taps a device very similar to what the griffons had.

"Ivan, send two pegasi down here to get a stretcher. We'll be climbing up in a second."

[Sure thing, kid. Are you using the griffon frequency?]

"Yeah, I don't know how to set this thing up, I just grabbed one of a dead soldier."

[Then I'm pretty sure the local garrison will be on our rumps in few minutes.]

"You don't say! Get the pegasi here ASAP."

[Well, I'm not worried about the soldiers. There's something big coming in from the south really fast.]

Two strong-looking pegasi split from the ship above us and get the stretcher.

"I can't climb due to internal damage," I say and Cromach, giving the stretcher to the pegasi, picks me up with one arm and puts me on his back.

In less than a minute everypony is lying or sitting around on a wooden floor marking the upper deck of the airship.

"Ivan, get us out of here!" Icy yells to the griffon soldier headset.

[Look south, kid...]

The airship starts humming loudly as Icy scowls and turns his head.

"How the heck should I know where... south... is..."

He recovers and screams.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" he taps the earpiece again and looks at everpony around, "TO THE CANNONS, RIGHT NOW!"

There is fifteen small stations consisting of some sort of artillery on a turning plate and a metal shield with small hole through which the operator can look. Cromach immediately slips into the closest one, Heavy takes a position himself, and Icy jumps to me.

"You, robothing, are you a good judge of distance? Most of my crew are just normal ponies who have no experience actually shooting the things."

"Yes."

"On each cannon there's timer. You set the timer, aim, push the red button. A timed charge flies out and detonates when the timer runs out. Get shooting!"

I nod and stumble towards a free station. The controls are extremely simple.

 _Target acquired_

 _Collision course_

 _Analysis..._

 _Closest species: dragon_

 _Divine influence detected_

 _Thaumic influence detected_

 _Calculating progress..._

I set the timer to nine seconds, aim, an easy thing considering the dragon shrouded in black mist is headed straight for us, and fire. The results are not impressive.

 _Zoom in_

 _No damage sustained_

 _Minor physical influence exerted_

 _Vocalize_

"The black smoke around the dragon shields it from all damage but the explosive charges still make it stumble and slow down!" I shout.

"Ivan, how fast can this thing go?" Icy mumbles to himself.

[Compared to the thing going straight for us? Not enough.]

"We can slow it down temporarily."

[Then do that! If it doesn't run out of steam eventually then we're boned.]

Icy grunts and runs from cannon to cannon, improving every shooter's technique.

 _Analysis complete..._

 _Divine influence shielding a living core._

 _Core is a real red dragon, unconscious._

 _Thaumic influence fading as a result of getting closer to Blazing Light._

 _Recommendation:_

 _The dragon will have to use his wings to fly instead of magic soon._

 _Use explosions to overheat air and disrupt the flight pattern._

"Everypony focus fire right under the dragon's left wing!"

"LISTEN TO HIM!" Icy supports my recommendation and all cannons turn a little.

"Four second timer. Fire!"

The chain explosion throws the dragon into a spiral and we gain some precious distance.

 _Divine influence shifting._

 _Frontal shield maintained._

 _Flight pattern too smooth again. Protection sacrificed for uninterruptable flight._

"It's not working anymore!" somepony yells out. Icy looks at me.

"Any more good ideas?"

"We cannot interrupt the flight anymore and it's moving faster than before. The protective field is restricted to a frontal shield though."

Icy understands immediately.

"Shoot a charge exploding behind the dragon! Bucket will give you the timer."

 **...got you...**

I can feel the hissing voice in my head without my sensors getting anything.

"Two point five seconds. Fire!"

It was a good idea aside from one detail - the dragon was too close.

To commend all the shooters, most of the charges really exploded behind the dragon or next to him. What I failed to think of was that the explosion gave the unnaturally propelled creature just more speed.

The shadows around the shape shift again and turn into tendrils that pierce the airship's deck and make the shadow dragon's legs crack the wooden floor as it lands. The dragon roars. Ponies run away from the cannons and to the stairs leading down on the lower deck. The dragon rears on his hind legs and SCREECHES.

[What was that, Icy? Icy? Icy?]

The mercenary just stands there, legs shaking, mutely staring up at the mouth full of sharp teeth grinning at him.

 _Divine power detected_

An orange beam of light strikes the dragon that screeches again and reels back. The shadow shroud disappears around the stricken spot and the scales of a limp red dragon become visible.

Blazing Light is standing there, bronze armor plates shimmering with reflection of his fire wings, and blonde mane slightly singed by the flames.

 **And so the champion himself stands up.**

The massive taloned arm of the dragon moves with unexpected speed to squash the unicorn who doesn't seem to notice. He must be having vision problems up here.

"Swipe from the left!" I shout.

A long shard of black ice drops from above and pins the arm to the deck, ruining even more of the airship.

"Thank you for the sentiment," yells a shadow from above, "but it's unnecessary."

Mistake bombards the shadow dragon with a shower of ice. The dragon roars again and raises a wing, each icicle causing him to budge a little lower.

It's a trap though. With the dragon protecting himself from the assault from above, Blazing charges his horn again and blasts the wing as well. The shadows disperse.

Seeing his chance, a white unicorn with blonde mane takes his place next to Blazing and his sword glows with golden aura. Making few practice swings in the air, the unicorn's horn glows, the sword seems to lengthen, and in a shower of golden sparks cuts the dragon's wing clean off.

"WOOO, BRO POWER, ACTIVATE!" cheers Choking Darkness hiding behind one of the cannon shields.

Mistake lands next to the white unicorn and looks at him questioningly.

"Searing?" he tilts his head and leans closer, "You do look like Searing Light."

"Wrong!" the unicorn grins, "Holy Light's the name. I think there's a more pressing matter at hoof, right?"

Both Mistake and Blazing aim their horns at the dragon. Holy Light's sword glows again...

...and stabs Mistake cleanly through.

Blazing screams in shared pain as Holy twists the weapon. Mistake's bones crack when Holy slams the unsuspecting unicorn with a shield fastened to his leg. Holy's blade continues in a fluid curve and shatters Mistake's wing. The blackfrost unicorn slams into the steel railings of the airship and slowly, too slowly, keels over into the clouds.

Blazing turns his head in utter disbelief towards Holy Light. A fatal mistake as the dragon pounces and slams Blazing into the floor with his hand.

"What are you doing, Holy?" Icy yells.

"Told you I had agents everywhere," the dragon laughs and the destroyed wing grows back.

"Don't tell me even you believed that bullshit lost brother story?" Holy snickers, "The smart mercenary though he could talk me into helping him basically for free by pretending he knew something about my 'long lost brother'. You were so easy to manipulate yourself. All I had to do was drop the name Blazing Light and you jumped at the oportunity to lie to me. Your changeling pet didn't trust me that fast but it was sooo much fun to listen to the idiotic batpony mare pour her heart out about Blazing."

Heavy charges Holy Light but a telekinetic blow sends him sliding back.

"You were a problem though, mudpony. Everypony was easy enough to fool but you wouldn't even entertain the though your friend was a corrupted monstrosity. Damn, the griffon was easier than you. Well, too late."

The dragon's talons squeeze Blazing and throw him into the air where the fire wings form a shield which stops the dragon's teeth... for a moment. In the next second the mouth slams shut just to stop again, this time much closer to Blazing's body.

"Stop struggling," Holy snorts, "Your death is long time coming."

"NO!" Cromach howls louder than the dragon roared and rushes at Holy who, lack of interest in his face, just conjures a shield around him. His amused expression turns to shock as Cromach roars again, swipes with his arm, breaks the barrier, and rips Holy's head clean off.

The dragon's mouth drops open, leaving Blazing hanging between his teeth.

"Nice try," Holy's head smacks its lips and the body kicks Cromach in the crotch. Stumbling around for a second, the body picks the head up and screws it effortlessly back, "Gonna need to take a bath to clean the mess up."

"What?" Cromach groans and looks at Blazing hanging limply in the dragon's mouth, fire wings flopping around and fading. Blazing catches his gaze and smiles.

"Sorry... that I wasn't strong enough... that I couldn't change back into the pony you... wanted."

"Touching," Holy kicks Cromach and the dragon finally bites down, "I forgot to thank you for your role in all this. Suffice to say, it wouldn't have been possible without you. It was so easy considering how you proclaimed your undying love over and over, pfff. All I had to do was to play your griffon instincts a bit."

"You... bastard," Cromach tries to get up but gets kicked again.

"Shhh, I have some parting words for all of you," Holy Light looks around at everypony hiding behind things or lying stunned on the deck, "So, I'm not one for long speeches but I have to practice my evil monologuing. Well, here it goes."

Holy clears his throat.

"Your champion is dead and your world will soon follow-"

"You're full of shit," Cromach struggles to get up again, "The princesses will-"

"The princesses can kiss my corrupted ass. Why do you think nopony cares about your little alicorn sisters? Luna has served the Nightmare and we know her every weakness, Celestia is too soft-hearted. On top of that her power can't even scratch a god. The only two capable of doing so were Void, whose power is returning quickly but that means his mere presence is killing the world, and your unicorn friend."

"Why Mistake... Blaze?" Cromach looks at the grinning dragon.

"You had no idea? You HONESTLY had no idea? That's rich! He had the potential to become the alicorn of Hope, too bad you managed to dash it just by yourself, griffon. I know hope doesn't sound too scary but when all hope dies, despair comes, and despair prevents even the slightest chance of success, bearing similar effects to Void's power."

Holy clears his throat again.

"So, mortals, let's try again. Your champion is dead and your world will soon follow. The Nightmare thrives on fear though so I'll let you go now so you have enough time to tremble, cower, and turn against each other," Holy Light jumps on the dragon's back, "The Element Bearers are weak, the hero is dead, and our time is coming. Thank you, Cromach, you've been wery helpful."

Laughing at our lack of power, the dragon carries Holy Light off into the distance.

"Ivan, we're going home," Icy whispers.


	28. Gathering Storm: Days After

The desert wasn't searing considering the time of the year but it definitely was still hot. Scorpions scuttled into the shade of any occasional rock and cacti spent their time catching as much sunlight they possibly could. This particular stretch of desert was in the western part of the massive hegemony called the Griffon Empire not too far away from the ocean and the most visible nearby landmark was a small town about which noone could say anything other than that it was a train station.

A griffon as common as sand walked through the dunes, looking for something. The feathers on his head were white, the fur on the rest of his body would not be noticeable when surrounded by sand. Aside from a black jacket he was wearing there was nothing unusual or memorable about the griffon... if one didn't count the small snowflakes falling around him and melting as soon as they touched the sand.

The griffon put an arm to his eyes and pulled an old-fashioned sailor's spyglass out of nowhere. Grunting in obvious disappointment, he flew upwards to get a better view of the area. When he was high enough the spyglass turned into a high-tech griffon Black Ops binocuars and he smiled.

With a burst of speed not even Rainbow Dash on crack could achieve the griffon dove towards a small crater in the sand with something black in it. His spread wings stopped the fast dive so quickly that if the griffon bothered obeying the laws of physics the wings would have been torn off from air friction and he would have made a second crater in the area, although much bigger one.

Agent Pranks, as the griffon ironically called himself, was not one for obeying rules though. Landing easily near the anomaly in the sand, he sighed and shook his head. There was a black unicorn lying in the middle of the crater, shards of something black and shiny scattered in a wide circle around him, with a gaping wound in his chest. His blue mane shifted in a random gust of wind but his open eyes, pink and faded, didn't even twitch.

"Knock knock, anypony there?" Pranks asked playfully.

The unicorn didn't answer. He couldn't. Considering his limbs were sticking out in weird angles and his chest wasn't moving there was no way he was alive.

"Not in the mood for talking, eh?" Pranks scratched his head nervously, walking in circles around the body, "I thought you wouldn't be. You know, being kicked away by everypony around you and, particularly that, dropping from the clouds. Heh, from cloud nine right on the hard ground. Well, soft ground in your case. Not that it helped."

The body didn't move. Neither did the half-open mouth with tongue sticking out of it.

"Still giving me the old silent treatment? Hey, at least I tried to help, right?" the griffon frowned, "I mean I couldn't act directly. Well, I COULD but where would be the fun in that? Mortals fighting gods, standing against impossible odds, and finally getting the love of their life... it is so much fun to watch. Yet, the catch is that sometimes they fail, I guess. Books don't end that way though."

The broken neck of the unicorn disagreed with agent Pranks.

"You see, I could revive you... again. Heck, I could do it again and again but you know the drill - you do it for one pony and then you have to do it for everypony. Heh, just like you. You got lucky and got rid of an almost unstoppable threat from the mirror world by yourself and suddenly, when it reappeared, all of them looked up to you to do it again as if it was now your responsibility."

The body did give Pranks the silent treatment again. It didn't have much choice.

"And you know what I liked the most? No spouting of that friendship nonsense, no 'love will conquer all' pink goggles, and the best thing - you paid for it. For EVERY step of the journey you paid and now... now it seems you are out of things to give."

The corpse agreed by not moving a muscle.

"I had high hopes for you though. You ALMOST made my victory complete. Harmony put her trust into the Element bearers and the Elements are gone for now, locked until the little fillies become older and more powerful. Nightmare was almost nonexistent until Luna went bonkers a millenium ago and allowed it to overcome the Pact of Harmony. Celestia thought she was doing a good job by sealing Luna away but she only gave Nightmare time to grow and the hate to fester."

The broken body and the shards of black ice listened to the history lecture without interrupting.

"You might think I'm evil or whatnot but I like Equus. I like all the races no matter whether they walk on four, two, eight legs, or no legs at all. Oh, right. You've never seen snake ponies. I like how life develops and, most of all, I like the STRUGGLE. Nightmare wants to end it all. But look who am I talking to, you know all that... you SAW what's going to happen if it wins. You unknowingly brought the last remnants of the race Nightmare used to wipe a world out here and you made this place a home for them. Yes yes, I'm sure the 'dreamlings'," Pranks' claws made a set of air quotes click in the air, "will fight to their last breath but they will fail. Your daughter will die."

Pranks stopped and looked at the dead unicorn questioningly.

"Nothing? You're a bad, bad father. Can't blame you though, your father isn't the cream of the crop either. Let's take it from a different perspective then. Your lovers wil die. Probably as one of the last victims but the rest of their life's not going to be much better. One might say they'll be jealous of the dead. I think the griffon will be the last unless he kills himself after seeing what his failure led to. Wanna know the funny part? He actually blames HIMSELF. In a conflict of a griffon and a god, albeit a quite gutted one, he blames himself for losing. Talk about an oversized ego, heh. Speaking of oversized, that bat of yours must have taken a telegraph pole during her wilder days, am I right?"

Half of Blazing Light's corpse suffered the stab at his friend's life without twitching. The other half had been devoured by a shadow dragon days earlier so there was no angry retort there either.

"The thing is that you made Luna more determined than ever to resist Nightmare's influence and thus closed the biggest gateway it had to this world. If only you held on few weeks longer and absorbed its power completely things could have been so much more neat. Few emo souls here and there wouldn't have been enough for Nightmare to give anypony the power to, well, corrupt a dragon and raise an undead army. Oh well, that's why I can't have nice things, I guess."

For some strange reason being this close to victory and failing didn't phase Blaze. Maybe it had something to do with him being beyond first aid and, coincidentially, also last rites.

"Still not moving, eh? You know what? I'm tired of trying to persuade you to get back up. I need a rest," Pranks stretched his arms, dropped on the sand, yawned, and fell asleep.

When he woke up, Blaze's body was still there.

"Come on, at least this one has to make your blood boil," Pranks looked around, "if there's any still around, that is. Your father is still alive. He was pissed at the fake, or real, you in Manehattan and left for a fishing trip with your butler. I know, I know, fishing is boring as heck but ponies get strange when they get old. When he returned he found out he had no family anymore and no upper class 'friends' to help him. He's currently hiding in Manehattan. Anypony related to your family and the Order of the Silver Sun is branded a traitor and to be executed upon capture. Not you, of course," Pranks poked the body, "Come ooooon, wake up! You can watch the old bastard die in horrible agonyyyy. I'll even resurrect him for you two or three times so you can kick the stool from under him when they hang him over and over."

As tempting as the offer was, Blaze was in no position to accept. What position he was in was one that would make a trained yoga instructor go green with envy... and probably nausea.

"Screw this, I'm reviving you!" Pranks stomped the sand annoyedly and snapped his talons, "You can thank me later."

Nothing happened.

"Come on, Void isn't powerful enough to render all necromancy worldwide ineffective... yet."

He snapped his talons again with the same result.

"No way! Magic resistance so high even I can't get you back up? That's so cool!" Pranks nodded his head approvingly, "And so is your body. Get it? Cool! Ha ha ha."

Pranks focused his will. There was nothing, NOTHING he couldn't do even despite the Pact of Harmony disallowing him to do everything everywhere at once. Harmony had sacrificed herself to stop him playing with his creations too carelessly. Nightmare could only interact with the world through an agent. He... he could do most of what he used to be able to, only in a small area, and he was also subject to the Elements being usable against him if he crossed the line. NOTHING could stop him from forcibly bringing a single soul back to life if he wanted to... aside from Void.

His second creation had somehow over eons gained enough power to rival his. Yet, he didn't feel the alicorn of Death interfering.

Strangely enough, a totally random griffon's snapping of claws for the third time didn't bring dead back to life.

"FINE, be that way!" he sulked, glaring at Blaze's body, "I don't have time to be talking to you the whole day, Fluttershy's making cupcakes."

Agent Pranks snapped his claws again and disappeared in a flash of blinding white light. When he reappeared in a small wooden cottage he muttered to himself in a vastly different voice:

"Well, that could have gone better."

* * *

Princess Luna's face twisted into a grimace of pure horror as she listened to a report given by four ponies - one mech, two earthponies, and a thestral - and one griffon.

It wasn't the fact that an escaped prisoner SAVED both groups just to hold them hostage and make Luna pay a fairly insignificant, if she had to be honest, sum of money. It wasn't the fact that said prisoner had at his disposal a warship never before built in Equestria, her Equestria. It wasn't the regrettable death of a unicorn who fascinated her and had on occasion helped her immensely. I wasn't even, very surprisingly, the coming end of days.

No, it also wasn't the bill from Golden Sands that somehow managed to get to Canterlot despite the entire town being levelled. Mere death was but a nuisance to accountants apparently.

It was the fact that three out of her five subordinates looked completely dead inside.

Luna knew grief. Every alicorn knew grief so deep mortals couldn't even begin to imagine. That's what she believed until the point when Choking Darkness, Cromach, and Heavy Hoof walked into her office. In their faces there was the knowledge that there was one true chance in anypony's life to find happiness and meaning... and their one chance was gone, leaving the rest of their days an empty existence.

"Anything else?" Luna asked.

"I request a temporary leave of absence in order to get my armor repaired," said Bucket, the mechanical pony, whose steel armor plates looked as if he had spent a night in a blender.

"Request accepted," Luna nodded and looked at a brown earthpony mare covered in bandages and barely standing, "First escort Dawn to the castle infirmary though."

The duo left and Luna sighed.

"The rest of you..." she started.

"I assume full responsibility for everything that's happened," said a green-eyed griffon whose body was completely white, both feathers and fur. He didn't make eye contact with the princess and the tone of his voice made it clear he wasn't saying it out of some royal responsibility. He wanted to suffer the consequences.

"Cromach, you are hereby promoted to the rank of drill sargeant. That, coupled with you being directly under my command, makes your rank even with Heavy Hoof," Luna nodded towards a white earthpony with light blue mane and patches of long blue fur on his legs just above his hooves, "You will also join him, Rising Thunder, and Choking Darkness in training new recruits."

"I have a request," said the red-maned thestral mare whose coat was black as charcoal. She was still wearing the thin red-rimmed glasses she'd worn in Golden Sands but there was nothing carefree about her. A new addition to her arsenal was a strange bracelet with tubes on it that Cromach knew was a mirror world hoof-operated gun, a short-ranged and inaccurate cannon capable of blowing a hole in an armored knight. How she'd managed to get Icy Gaze to give it to her was beyond him but he suspected it had something to do with them not trying to run away during the ransom dealings.

"Yes, miss Darkness?"

"I want magic. Sharpie was able to use magic to a limited degree and I want to know how. Blaze told me once ya knew how to make enchanted horseshoes."

"Ah, the horseshoes serving as a magic focus akin to unicorn horns. That is... correct. I can have them made for you but I cannot teach you to use them outside of some basic rules."

"That'll be enough, princess. I... I've never felt so useless in my life. Too bad that now I realize it it's too late," Choking bit her lip and sniffed.

Luna had nothing comforting to say. Anything she could say now seemed trite and pointless. She turned to business.

"Heavy, got anything to say?"

"Nothing, your Highness, at least not to you," his eyes darted from Cromach to Choking. Luna understood.

In any normal case she would give all of them some time to recover but neither of them could be left alone in their state. What they needed was to put some distance between what happened and themselves.

"All three of you," Luna ordered, standing up from her desk, "take an evening off. You have lessons tomorrow and I'll expect you to be there. After I talk to my sister about our next step you'll be in charge of telling our military about the situation. Dismissed!"

The trio saluted and left. Luna regretted putting three ponies in their early twenties in such position but she didn't have a choice. It was also the only way to help them deal with their loss.

After all, diamonds were created under pressure.


	29. Gathering Storm: Things In Motion

"What are we going to do now?" mumbled a rust-colored unicorn with brown mane to himself.

He was sitting in a bar somewhere in the depths of Zebrica. The exact name of the country mattered little to him for two reasons. The first one was that thanks to crazy warlords the countries around here changed their names on monthly basis and the second, more important one, revolved around the fact that ponies and countries would soon be completely irrelevant. For now, though, he was enjoying his beer. It wasn't too good but it was cheap and in large quantities.

 **We have to get Void out of the picture.**

"I thought you were a god. Can't you just summon some army of darkness and kill everything?"

 **If that was the case I wouldn't need you.**

The unicorn had to admit it made sense. After his success in the Griffon Empire he'd dropped his Holy Light disguise and flew south as the voice who had been leading him up to this point ordered him to. His real name was unimportant and so was his past life. He'd suffered scars beyond healing and over time he'd come to a conclusion that there was nothing in this world to live for.

The voice had told him he was wrong. There was always revenge on those whose fault it was his life ended in such state. Having nothing and nopony to rely on, he had accepted the offer. Not for the shortest moment had he believed his life might have been his fault.

"So? How do we deal with the alicorn of Death? He stopped us in the desert rather easily."

 **Yes. Not even I know the source of his power but there are ways to work around it. Void spends most of his time in the underworld where souls pass through after making amends in Tartarus. He has to stay in a place detached from Equus otherwise his power would turn it into ruin even without our interference.**

"He unleashed himself in the desert. I've never thought sand could rot. Can't we, I don't know, just lure him out, lock him on the face of Equus, and watch the world die?"

 **Good idea but one that needs a lot of preparation. When elder alicorns grow too powerful they usually build a pocket dimension for themselves where they can really, let's say, stretch their muscles. Void, however, cannot do that on his own. Such feat requires either a massive amount of magic or a power centered around creation. He is the only living alicorn who has neither.**

"You said he lived in the underworld."

 **Indeed. He wasn't the one who created that place though. Out of the few alicorns who still choose to interact with the 'real' world the only one powerful enough to make something stable enough for Void to reside in is his marefriend - Scream, the alicorn of Lust.**

"Can we actually go against a magic user this powerful directly?"

 **Yes, we can. Fortunately, Scream's last engagement with me ended up rather poorly for her and now she's just a mindless piece of meat who follows Void around. The magic is linked to her and if she disappears Void will either have to use his weakened form and not be a threat or eventually wipe all life out.**

"I suppose you know where to find this Scream."

 **Yes. However we'll have to go back to Equestria for that. Your magic isn't sufficient enough to break into her own pocket dimension from anywhere. We'll have to find a point where the dimension is linked to Equus. Just like Tartarus is linked to a cave in the Equestrian mainland and the underworld access point is somewhere in the griffon deserts the entrance to Scream's home is in the Everfree Forest.**

"Are we going right now or...?"

 **As much as I hate giving Void time to analyze the situation we have other things to do. This is just a backup plan, we still have the world to ruin on our own.**

"Alright. How about we start with an army of undead? Will Void stop you here?"

 **Not a chance unless he wants the underworld to suddenly become very overcrowded.**

"Good," Holy Light stood up from his table, looked around at zebras relaxing after hard day's work, and drew his sword.

"Sir, please, put that away," said a muscular bartender in a heavy accent, "We don't like our customers getting hurt."

A flick of Holy's horn later his golden-glowing sword pierced the bartender's chest. Unlike anywhere in Equestria, the patrons didn't try to run away but charged the rusty unicorn.

Few minutes later Holy walked outside of the tavern into the streets of a small town. A group of zebras previously drinking beer and various brain cell killers followed him on unsteady legs.

Well, he needed to amass a force big enough to attack Equestria. Why not start right here and now?

* * *

In a different bar, in a different city, and on a different continent Heavy Hoof waved at Brick the bouncer and looked around. This mercenary bar in Canterlot went by the name Sole Regret and used to be a frequent place of solitude for Blazing Light. Now, though, Heavy was looking here for somepony else. For once he didn't wonder about how a place where everypony was armed and most of the patrons must have come against one another on various jobs could be so peaceful. Few unicorns in the back were playing darts, a group of mercenaries were telling a story about their exploits, often correcting one another about who really killed which monster, while being listened to by several young colts with eyes wide as soup plates, and a griffon accompanied by a thestral sitting quietly in a corner table.

"Evening," Heavy greeted the duo and sat down, "Never pegged the two of you to come here. I thought Lucky Horseshoe was more your taste."

"Liar," Choking Darkness smirked, "What do ya want?"

"He wants to yell at me," Cromach mumbled into his beer, "for messing everything up. Rightfully so."

"Come on," Choking smiled at him but he wasn't looking, "Ya couldn't have known."

"Actually, Crom, I'm not here to chew you out," Heavy nodded at the passing bartender, "One Sister's Grace, please."

"Thanks, I guess," the griffon sighed gloomily, "but all I really want to do now is drink until that little voice in the back of my head shuts up."

Heavy took Cromach's head into his hooves and forced him to look him in the eyes. Green met brown and Heavy smiled.

"You did all you could. You did nothing wrong. Blazing told me exactly what happened in Golden Sands and you were strong enough to resist the Nightmare and make him happy for as long as you did."

"I could have done so much more if only I wasn't so hot-headed."

"If you weren't you, you mean. Well, if you weren't you then Blazing wouldn't have been happy around you. You are also forgetting one important thing. Most of what happened was HIS fault, not yours."

The blow caught Heavy by surprise but he recovered quickly and continued.

"Cromach, you told me what bothered you the most was that you left him hanging in the town square but you did the right thing. Darky couldn't have handled the situation while Blazing was smashing the undying soldiers. If he wasn't an emotional idiot seeing the worst in everything he wouldn't have given up there and then."

"Shut up!" Cromach growled.

"HE told me that. I'm not making things up. He understood what went wrong and came to terms with it. All he wanted was to talk to you about the transformation but... things happened."

The bartender brought a cocktail the upper half of which was white while the bottom half was dark blue. Heavy downed it in one go.

"All I wanted," Cromach covered his eyes, sobbing, "All I wanted was..."

"All you wanted was what all of us wanted at one point in time," Heavy smiled comfortingly, "Listen to me, Crom. You too, Darky. You might be forgetting one thing - Blazing killed my coltfriend. It wasn't exactly his fault but he did. Crom, you have no idea how I felt after Sharp died, Darky does. Both of us came to terms with it and loved our idiot even more after knowing HE took it the hardest. What I'm trying to say is that things will get better. You will find somepony else and you will never make the same mistake thanks to this experience."

Cromach sighed.

"I just... every time I'm sitting back in our... my apartment I think of him. I can't help blaming myself."

"Why don't the two of you stay together for a while?" Heavy suggested, "It's not like you aren't friends with benefits anyway and not being in an empty room alone might help."

Cromach shook his head but Choking nodded.

"Hey, not a bad idea. It's not as if I have no experience in fixing broken guys," she nudged the griffon.

"I don't know... it feels like I'm betraying him."

"Pfff," Darky waved her hoof, "And sitting here being miserable doesn't? He wanted ya to be happy so ya can't just throw it away like this."

"Don't dwell on what will never be and just remember the good times," quoted Heavy.

"Hey, who said that?" Darky grinned and withered when both of them stared at her, "That was a joke, a joke. I listened to Blaze too from time to time. Stop looking at me like that!"

Cromach smiled weakly.

"Fine, I'll move in for a while. I wanted to get rid of my place for a while anyway and now I'm actually getting paid enough to afford something bigger."

"And I know a place that sells custom life-sized plushies," Heavy added. This time he was the focus of two scorching stares, "What? I gave Tio one of me to keep around in the camp."

Choking was glad to see the conversation shift elsewhere.

"Is he still staying with his unit in Ponyville?"

"Well, Chrysalis' order to monitor the Bearers is still in order and prince Shining Armor keeps visiting from time to time to play whatever the pen and paper thingy is called."

"Damp cellars and firebreathing lizards or something," Darky coughed, admitting said knowledge.

"Yeah, that. They play it live, Tio changes into the monsters and Shining fights him. Starlight does the succubi and desire demons while Shadowstep does the boss fights."

"Princess Cadance doesn't object?"

"I'm not sure Shining told her about how he wrestled the six-breasted hippogriff broodmother with his bare hooves... in blueberry jello. Anyway, it's not like anypony actually has a chance with the prince, he loves his wife way too much."

"So, just a little bit of spice in their lives."

"Exactly."

Not for the first time Cromach wondered about the strangeness of living among ponies but, as he listened to Heavy's story about Shining subduing the enchantress of Zanzebra in her tentacle pit, he suddenly didn't feel the need to order another drink.

* * *

Piles of skulls filled a cavern on top of an unnamed mountain. A black alicorn was resting atop one of them, carefully observing multiple squares with flickering images floating in mid-air around him. As he stretched and turned around to find a better position the bones didn't crack or break but just shifted into a comfortable to observation this place wasn't the underworld although the decor and the company hinted at it.

Void moved his hoof and some of the images floated away and disappeared while the others sat still. Something felt off. It was simple enough to spot the disturbance in Zebrica but there was nothing he could do about it. Void didn't have an army at his disposal and he couldn't rely on his power unless attacked directly. His best choice was to steer events towards a favourable engagement between what would become Nightmare's army and whoever was willing to defend the world of living.

The images around him showed various parts of Equus where Nightmare's agents began their campaign to gather forces which would eventually head... where? To Equestria, obviously. Zebrica was too shattered to form a united front against the growing army. The Griffon Empire was crippled by politics to decide quickly enough on a reasonable course of action. The northern minotaur tribes were barely civilized enough to understand the threat and no other faction was strong enough to fight. Equestria would have to be the final stand unless he found a way to stop things before they got serious.

There was one thing he could do though. Nightmare wasn't subtle in its efforts and its agents were hotpots of dark magic and divine power. Even if he was using his sealed form he should be enough to clear all but the strongest agents and at least give Nightmare only one way to attack. Direct threat, although devastating, was still easier to read and react to than multiple revolutions and areas of growing corruption. Void's form changed from a blackfire alicorn into a purple-maned black unicorn and he stood up and cracked his neck.

Before he could teleport outside though something nudged his neck gently. He smiled and looked at a golden alicorn with platinum mane whose thin black streaks in her coat made it look like changeling armor. Scream licked his face as his muzzle booped hers.

Void might forget friends and he might forget allies but in front of him there was the one and only reason he wasn't allowed to fail.

The grim reaper picked his metaphorical scythe up and disappeared.

Scream just tilted her head as her lover suddenly wasn't there. She was calm. Even in her simple mind she knew he went away and came back often. He always came back to her.

"Well well well," a voice laughed from the entrance to the cavern, "The timing couldn't have been better."


	30. Gathering Storm: Allies

Steps echoed through the high, white and gold decorated, hall of the throne room in the Holy City. At this time of the day there was noone allowed inside and the Emperor was alone with his thoughts. Not many griffons have ever seen someone of the imperial bloodline but those who knew the Emperor in person weren't surprised by his appearance.

In the old days the griffon rulership was given to those with power and leader's charisma and the tradition survived even to the present. Despite some nobles disputing the decision to keep the leadership of the Empire in one bloodline they couldn't ignore one key thing - the imperial family wasn't so weak it couldn't compete with external influences concerning the Imperial leaderhip and had to forcibly keep the title within. They kept the Emperor title because, simply, they bred and raised the best of the best to lead their country.

The one most suited to becoming the leader became the Emperor while the other sons had the choice to either serve the Empire further in the Black Ops or get stripped of their ruling rights, given a nobility title of their choice, and be free to live their lives as they saw fit.

The tall, grey griffon on the throne was a warrior, no amount of soft clothes of the highest quality could hide that fact. He wasn't a clerk, he wasn't a politician, and he wasn't a strategist. He had those of such necessary skills serving under him. He was a shining beacon to all those who followed him, he was their morale, he was their banner, and he was the symbol of their unity.

He was also staring in utter disgust at agent Pranks smiling at him from behind one of the white pillars on the sides of of the long hall.

"Who are you?" the Emperor asked the intruder.

"I doubt you really care so let me be direct," Pranks put his talons together, "Your little Empire is in danger and I want to know how far you are willing to go to protect it."

"I will do anything to keep my griffons safe," proclaimed the Emperor proudly.

"Good to know. Well, there's a massive army gathering in Zebrica which will invade Equestria given enough time. With pony military being in complete disarray you have the only force capable of stopping things before they get out of hand."

"And I should care because...?" the Emperor raised his talons.

"If Equestria falls then your supernatural protection will also fall and no amount of technology and brute force will help you then."

"You are not a secret service member," the Emperor narrowed his eyes.

"And you are not a typical bird brain, kitty. So, do I have your support in this matter?"

The Emperor's laughter echoed through the empty throne room.

"I do not care about your agenda. I do not know how you got here and who you are but get out of my sight! The Empire will stand strong against any enemy. The Empire will break the sides weakened by war and spread to Equestria. The Empire will-"

Blood began streaming from the Emperor's beak as Pranks appeared in front of him without moving and stabbed a thin stilleto right into his neck.

"The Empire," agent Pranks grinned evilly, "will be leaderless for a while. As they say, the strong prey on the weak and your bad decision has just made you the weak link."

The Emperor's stamina and tenacity was admirable as he moved his arms and gripped Pranks' neck tightly. Pranks didn't flinch and stared the Emperor directly in his eyes.

"If you're not with me than you are against me, you old fart," Pranks grunted, "We can't have a second evil army messing everything up, can we? So, we'll get the Black Ops to cooperate and temporarily rule this land while they find someone not so... set in his ways. That, or I can just gut you in front of the palace and shatter your Empire with only few cuts. You know that EVERYONE will want a piece of the fertile land once your ruling arm is gone. What'll it be, birdie? Either you tell me the name of someone more peaceful and smarter than you or this land will enjoy some delicious war and chaos."

The Emperor groaned.

"What was it? Didn't really hear you over all that blood gushing out."

"Vargaz," the Emperor's eyes glazed over, "Find agent Vargaz."

Pranks let the Emperor's body slump on the delicately crafted floor tiles.

"I knew griffons didn't go for stupid leaders."

* * *

"AAAAAAAIGEEEREREFRAGHR-BERGHIR MAERGHIN!" Choking Darkness cursed as lightning rushed through her body and left her smoking slightly on the floor of princess Luna's Canterlot office.

"I had no idea you spoke the old tongue," Luna smiled, "although I do not approve your choice of words."

Choking twitched and few sparks jumped between her stiff mane and the carpet. When her eyes finally rolled back and become more than just white blanks she stood back up and sneezed.

"Sharpie went through all that as well?" she shook her head again to get rid of the feeling that her brain was melting out of her ears.

"Yes, although with less severity and much less swearing."

"I believe my tits were shooting lightning for a while there. I thought the horseshoes focused the magic themselves."

"Of course not, the horseshoes are just meteoric iron with your blood caked into it. You have to feel them and use them to focus your energy. Don't worry, it took Sharp Biscuit several months to learn to use them correctly. You seem to be harnessing a lot of raw power though."

Choking couldn't get rid of the rush of magic coursing through her body. It was like flying but faster, so much faster. She wanted to try again and not only because every time she fell on the carpet her crotch left a damp spot. First of all, she needed all the power she could get to be able to protect herself and everypony around her. The second reason? The flow of energy felt so damn gooooood.

Raising her hooves in front of her and standing on her hind legs, she felt her core get warmer and warmer unil the heat and fullness in her every vein was unbearable and screamed:

"UNLIMITED POWEEEER!"

Small bolts of lightning reaching few inches out of Choking's horseshoes lit the dark office and made Luna's mane slightly wobble with static electricity.

"Very limited," Luna raised an eyebrow, watching the mare pointing her hooves at Luna's face with an expression of indecisiveness between insanity and orgasm.

Few moments later Choking's legs gave up on her effort to look evil and she slumped on Luna's carpet with a wet squelch. Luna sniffed the air.

"It smells like a house of moderately priced affection in here. I dread the gossip the cleaning maids will spread about me. Still, she learns rather quickly."

The paperwork ordering the draft of everypony between the age of eighteen and twenty-five still burned Luna inside. Of course it wasn't her sister's fault this thing got through the legislation process. Somepony just got news of a possible unrest and wanted to use the law against her sister to portray her as a ruler sending foals to war.

She smiled to herself and her horn glowed. The official document burst in flames and disappeared into a heap of ash.

"You are very useful, miss Darkness, although you lack self-control. I might even have to punish you for ruining such an important piece of legislation."

Luna slid her hoof across Choking's crotch and sent a small bolt of electricity through. Choking smiled, twitched, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

"Consider yourself punished."

With that, Luna teleported out of her office into her private suite in the castle and walked straight into the bathroom. A long shower was in order. As the steaming water flowed through her coat she realized she was going to need allies. Allies didn't always mean friends though. Money bought mercenaries but some mercenaries worked for different currency as well.

Perhaps it was time to stop dwelling on details and admit her fault. Still sitting in the spacious tub, she focused on a quill in the main room which began writing.

* * *

Her head hurt. Her head hurt so much. The nice pony wasn't around. The weird pony was making noises. Truth be told, he didn't look much like the nice pony. The nice pony's colours were dim and didn't hurt her eyes like the weird one's did. She also liked when the nice pony nuzzled and hugged her from time to time. The weird one's strange sharp muzzle was hard when she tried to boop him and he recoiled at the touch. The feathers on his head felt cold unlike the dark pony's fur.

She didn't like the new pony. He made a lot of noises in too high pitch, jumped around a lot which made her head hurt even more, and laughed. Not in the nice way like the dark pony did. The nice pony made quiet noises and rubbed her ears while the weird one pointed at her and laughed over and over while making more noises.

Where did the nice pony go?

Moving was difficult but she managed. Sometimes she moved too fast and bumped into things. The nice pony always smiled at her and led her at her pace where she wanted to go. She loved when the nice pony made pictures move around, especially the one where a smaller black pony was eating something brown and crunchy a gold pony gave him. She could never look at the picture for long because her vision became blurry but the nice pony didn't mind and showed her more pictures. He was in some of them, most of the time alone but sometimes with the gold pony.

The weird pony was yelling at her now. The pain from her head now pulsated in her bones as well. She laid down on the soft red carpet and covered her head with her legs.

She was scared and wished the nice pony would come back.

The weird pony knocked on her head and rolled his eyes. She felt dizzy as the stream of noises never seemed to stop coming from her companion. She felt connections grow slowly and began to recognize the noises he kept repeating.

Words, those were called words. The nice pony used words as well, one more often than others. She tried to make that noise, perhaps it would make him come back.

"...Creamy," she croaked and looked at the weird pony who stopped making her head hurt.

She repeated the word few times and the ringing in her head stopped. It still hurt, even more than before, but she could recognize the noises the weird pony made.

"Come on! I've been here for an hour! You know what is an hour to a dog? It's like seven hours and I'm partly one... or whatever the griffons are. They look as if a lion tried to eat a chicken and it got stuck in its throat."

"Many... words," she shook her head but that just made it worse.

"Oh my god... well, oh my me then," the weird pony slapped his face with his leg... arm... hoof... no hoof, pointy.

Why would he do that? Didn't it hurt?

"It's like scrambled eggs in there, a complete chaos. Of course, not as high-quality as I'd have made but it's a start. You know? I would have made you a chicken, just to see Void fume, not an unthinking blob of flesh and fur."

Void... that was the nice pony. Did the weird pony know why he'd left?

"Void... where?"

"Not here, my braindead pony, which is a good thing-"

She didn't believe him for a second. Void being here was good. He was nice, he protected her...

...from what?

"-otherwise he would tear me a new one. Seriously, that alicorn has some real trust issues."

She focused on what was making her legs tremble. Void was protecting her from something. Something dark not in colour but in existence.

"Void... good. You... speak... bad... of him. You bad."

"Well, that's rich coming from you. You were the one who tried to kill everything alive just to teach Celestia a lesson."

The nice... Void had never told her about that but it did spark something. The spark was raw hatred aimed at the name Celestia. It faded fast. Void was a nice pony. Void liked her. She was a nice pony then.

The weird pony wasn't lying though. She remembered something - Void being angry at her and her cowering before him. She had been bad but Void had forgiven her. She was a nice pony for him.

Yes, she became a nice pony. She tried to help him, help those who helped him find his way back to her. She had helped, she had protected a secret, a key to Void's location. A bad pony had asked her and she hadn't told her anything. She fought but the bad pony called upon her bad dreams, nightmares. She fought Nightmare Moon and almost won. She was proud of such feat - standing up to a god and going even. She was proud that her sacrifice gave Void the chance to almost destroy Nightmare Moon.

The air in the cavern crackled with enough magic to give Twilight Sparkle an eternal wingboner and make Luna reevaluate how weak a mage she truly was.

She was a powerful, proud, lustful, and greedy alicorn.

Her name was Scream and what she wanted RIGHT NOW the most was her beloved pet.

"Discord..." she looked sternly at the griffon smiling widely at her, "What do you want?"

"Oh? Can't poor old me just help a friend of a friend?" the griffon currently known to few inhabitants of the Griffon Empire as agent Pranks clutched his chest, "I am hurt, HURT that you could even suggest-"

"I am the alicorn of Lust and Desire, not Patience, and I can feel your need. It must be something serious if you can't do it yourself."

"Alright, I admit I have a desire I cannot fulfill myself. I wish to give the poor mortals currently in grave danger a fighting chance but I'm not sure how. I need your second sight."

Scream nodded.

"You know the rules. Ask and I will answer as long as you pay the price."

"I believe I may have given you enough for now?" agent Pranks bowed.

Scream's eyes glowed bright green and in turn did Discord's. His griffon disguise shattered before the alicorn who could see into the deepest and darkest corners of hearts and drag out the hidden desires of all creatures.

Discord saw a horde of undead, slaves, and nightmarish abominations cross the ocean from Zebrica to Equestria. He saw what little defending forces of ponies and griffons there were in the future. He saw his gambit in the Empire paying off even more than he'd expected. He saw friends fighting against friends.

He saw utter chaos but for the first time he wasn't happy. The chaos was way too short-lived and what followed was emptiness... and boredom.

Finally the vision turned white as it passed through frozen wastes north of the Crystal Empire where minotaur tribes celebrated their new warlord who would unite them into a nation and upon whose efforts a new culture would be built. The warlord who would take the land of ponies by storm and crush their last stand against the armies of darkness. The Dark Prophet.

The vision moved to show the warlord up close...

...and failed. The image became blurred and the entire vision ended. Discord was once again faced with the sight of an alicorn whom any creature would consider the most desirable being in existence.

"Hmmmm," Discord put his griffon disguise back on and rubbed his temples.

"Anyhing else?" Scream asked impatiently.

"Meh, your magic sucks. I still have to think how... to... " he drifted off.

His sudden outburst of laughter only made Scream raise an eyebrow but he ignored her and disappeared.

Scream focused. Her head still hurt but there remained the main matter of importance. The world could go screw itself but she wanted to screw somepony else right here and now.

*fwomp*

Void's unicorn form appeared back in the mountaintop cave and looked around in confusion. He was painfully small compared to Scream's alicorn size.

"What the infinity?" his ears perked.

"Welcome home, Voidie," Scream grinned widely, "Bed. Now!"

* * *

Agent Pranks reappeared back in the Holy City. He wasn't sure how to tip the scales in his favor any more. The mortals and immortals were going to clash and he could only hope it would work out the way he wanted.

It was time to find agent Vargaz and see why the dead Emperor wanted him to.


	31. Gathering Storm: Black Ops

With months passing the winter was almost over.

"What are our victory conditions, sister?" asked princess Celestia over a cup of tea during one of their evening meetings.

Princess Luna though long and hard about that question. Past three months had been filled with spying, gathering information, and negotiating with any ally she could think of and it still was nowhere near enough. Equestrian military, despite calling for concerned citizens to join their intense training regime, hadn't gotten too many applicants, leaving Luna wondering about the scrapped law ordering a draft. The military forces had excellent individuals but those had no chance of standing against what Luna's scrying magic had shown was gathering in Zebrica and southern parts of Equestria.

Their main hope lay in various magical orders and institutions capable of using tactical spells - tornadoes, force strikes, meteors - anything capable of reducing the enemy numbers. Unfortunately, they didn't have the political power or opportunity to test those spells first. The Nightmare's army was still too far away to use those to test their defensive magical capabilities and using tactical spells would definitely not go unnoticed by griffons. Considering the Empire had refused any and all recent diplomatic contacts they probably knew Equestria was in trouble.

In short, a victory in a direct conflict was unlikely.

"Not dying sounds like a good one," Luna took a sip and shrugged, "I don't see any tangible goal aside from fighting Holy Light's army. If we were to do that then the best time would be when they try to land on our southern shores. I don't see a way to survive the onslaught of their force when they are at full power."

"Any help from elsewhere?" Celestia rubbed her horn, "I'm having enough trouble preventing panic in Equestria and stopping the nobles from tearing the country to pieces from the inside. Perhaps I should just kill Blueblood."

"What did he do?"

"Was born, mainly, but I can't stand his ramblings on unicorn superiority. Funnily enough, his latest idea of forcing earthpony mares to become breeding and morale-raising facilities during wartime would probably help us."

"Hmmmm... how does General Blueblood sound?" Luna grinned, "Hero of the first royal light brigade. I'm sure trying to dodge arrows from the front AND the back would help him improve his views."

"At least both armies would have a common goal," Celestia chuckled, "Good idea though. As a unicorn who is undoubtedly superior to his earthpony and pegasi brethren he would be a paragon of - damn, can't say that with a straight face. So, nothing? What about mirror Twilight Sparkle, the iron hoof of Equus?"

"They don't really call her that. She was very direct during our last meeting in saying that the only piece of advanced technology she sent here got immediately copied and she LOST her own flagship trying to help us fight it and as such she wasn't too inclined to help. When I explained who the enemy was she said she was going to close the portal as soon as things started looking grim."

"Aaaand the helping part?"

"They can't help us with any research because the Nightmare Moon on their side was killed instead of purified, thank you by the way, but she will send some of her forces to bolster ours. Her problem is that, just like on our side of the portal, as soon as she shows weakness the various unstable factions might try to break the unified world into pieces."

"How many?"

"Not enough although her husks make an excellent front line."

"Any word from the griffons?"

"Nothing outside of gossip. Our changeling agents claim the Emperor is dead and the Black Ops are sorting the politics out in a way which wouldn't break the Empire back into small countries and city states. We should be happy they are still trading with us at least. In short, they have enough trouble of their own."

"What about the Crystal Empire?"

"Probably our best asset, surprisingly. Crystal ponies are related to earthponies and they don't take darkness trying to enslave them lightly. Shining Armor has his hooves full with turning basically the entire city state into an army."

"How is Cadance taking it? She's never been the combat sort."

"Are you joking, sister? Shining Armor used her as a projectile during Sombra's return. Cadance is helping him by gathering mares, both in and outside of the army, willing to pose for suggestive photos to get the 'colts in uniform' to perform better."

"Stars above us!"

"Should I bring Cadance's personal edition of 'Princess of Love spread like a lotus' tomorrow? She sent me a signed copy."

"Honestly, that sounds borderline exploitive."

"No, it's not!" Luna objected hotly, "Shining is doing the same thing. His photoset of 'Defenders at arms' actually sold more copies than Cadance's. Guard mares need motivation just like everypony else."

Celestia took a deep breath and finished her tea.

"I think we need all the good news we can get. I'm surprised that Holy Light's forces are coming from only one side."

"Not exactly," Luna shook her head, "Our Twilight's research hints at something interesting. It seems that Nightmare's power grows stronger the more desperate souls accept its influence and the number of those controlled agents has dwindled in past three months. Twilight managed to create spells capable of targeting these agents and I went to visit one of the stronger points and you wouldn't believe who I found."

"Listening."

"Void. It turns out he's been eliminating these minor gateways of Nightmare's power into this world. According to what he said there are only two remaining but those are the main ones. One is in Zebrica which must be Holy Light. The other one is somewhere in the land of minotaurs. Both of these locations are heavily protected from scrying magic so I can't gather much more without sending somepony there."

"A two-pronged attack then?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm... Twilight and her friends aren't ready to face war. They are still just fillies no matter their experience with the supernatural. They might be able to face Holy Light just like they fought you but they can't use the power of the Elements against normal soldiers. Can we hide them for the time being?"

"No point. If we do that then Holy Light's army will just march straight to the Tree of Harmony and force a fight there."

"Why is that a problem? It is an area we know while the enemy won't. We can bait them there and have a minor chance against their numbers advantage. Plus, mirror Twilight's army will be close at hoof."

Luna looked at Celestia sadly.

"I've never expected to see the day you offer to sacrifice the entire southern part of Equestria. I've always believed you had all the answers and that you would never waste a single life."

"Luna, I have to protect my ponies and I ask very little of them. Sometimes though, they have to do their part. However, we still have time. Prepare the prediction of the enemy's march. Order the evacuation of danger zones and get us ready for a guerrila war. We'll need to slow Holy Light's army down as much as possible and make them lose as many poni- soldiers as we can."

"What about the northern force?"

"We'll leave that to Shining Armor and Cadance for now. I hope their porn-strenghtened forces can handle the situation. Last thing - send a team to rebuild our old castle in the Everfree and station the united forces of mages there. It is closer to the southern coast than Canterlot so we might be able to ruin a decent part of Holy's forces with some large-scale tactical spells while they are crossing the ocean."

"I don't like relying on the Elements so much," Luna frowned.

"Have you got a better idea?"

"No, sorry, sister."

"I love you, Luna. No matter what happens never forget that."

"I love you too, Tia. We stand together, we fall together."

* * *

Darkness fell and they appeared in Canterlot from nowhere. There were no traces of their progress and nopony knew about their coming. The unlucky guard currently stationed in front of the castle entrance gulped as he saw a group of twenty serious-looking griffons approach and salute. Each one of them was wearing only a black, gold-embroidered jacket, and a headgear of their choice. Some had cowls, some barrets, and some scarves, but none of them looked to be bothered by the snow coming down from the sky. The accessories seemed purely a fashion choice.

"We bring tidings from the Griffon Empire," said the group's leader when all griffons stood at attention at once, "and we request an audience with princess Celestia."

"I-it's after visiting hours. You'll have to wait for tomorrow to make an appointment."

"We... insist," the leading griffon kept staring. The others spread out around the entrance and their clothes and natural colouring allowed them to merge with the darkness.

"L-l-l-let me get my commander, sir... sirs. Stay here, please," the guard rushed inside and slammed the door shut.

"The security here is a joke, sir," a griffon turned to the one leading the group.

"It seems that way and yet no assassination attempt has ever worked."

"Definitely not because of skilled personnel," the griffon snorted and some other joined from the shadows, "The twenty of us could take this entire city by ourselves. Discounting the alicorns, of course."

"It seems that way," the leader nodded, "Don't forget the investigation of agent Jones' death and the incident in Golden Sands. We shouldn't underestimate any enemy, not even those who might be our current allies."

Few moments later the guard returned. The griffons were still there, at least he could see a few of them. He wanted his shift to be over but he shouldn't have slacked off during the surprise inspection earlier. Now he was one of the few unlucky Royal Guards on night shift.

They stood in silence and made the guard feel even smaller than he physically was compared to them. He almost soiled himself when the door behind him clicked again, first with shock and then with relief. Not that he liked batponies but right now anything was better than the creepy griffons.

A group of five Nightguards led by a red-maned mare marched out. She raised her hoof and a small ball of light appeared, illuminating the griffons hiding around. The guard didn't question a batpony using magic because his mind was in his happy place.

"The princesses will see you immediately," the mare simply said.

The griffons followed the thestrals through the empty halls of Canterlot castle. The griffon leader smiled as he watched the practiced march and the ponies ready to pounce at him at any time. The elite met the elite and both sides knew it immediately. When the door to the throne room opened his expression remained the same but his eyes betrayed him. He was relieved.

The princesses weren't alone. The griffon leader recognized the ponies around as the targets of several Black Ops operations before, unsuccessful operations.

The leader bowed curtly before the sisters but it felt more like a greeting between equals.

"What do we owe the honor?" asked princess Celestia coldly but politely, "Forgive us for being surprised at this unscheduled visit, especially after all of our diplomats being denied any contact."

"My name is Vargaz, the leader of Imperial Secret Service and a temporary steward of the Griffon Empire," the grey-coated griffon leader announced and watched the composure of both sisters break as they gasped, "I come with an offer of cooperation during the incoming crisis."

"What do you offer?" Luna recovered faster.

"A hundred fully-equipped and experienced Black Ops members."

"We were hoping for a more significant part of your Imperial Legion. The incoming enemy is stronger than-"

"Mind if I say something, princess?" a green-eyed white griffon interrupted the princess who raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Cromach."

"You underestimate the Black Ops. A hundred of their guys with guns, explosives, and mobile radio stations can wreak havoc behind enemy lines. This offer is better than sending few thousand Legion soldiers, if only because we don't have to bother with logistics."

"Aah, mister Cromach," Vargaz smiled pleasantly, "You spared me the trouble of looking for you."

"Not sure if I should be flattered or terrified," Cromach tilted his head, portraying neither of those emotions.

"I have an offer for you which, also, is the price for our help. We want you to become our direct link to the princesses as well as a member of Black Ops."

"Eehm, isn't this supposed to be some sort of a shady deal where you pay me and I spy on them? If so then by asking me that in front of the princesses you're doing it wrong. You might also be forgetting that the last time one of your guys offered that to me he tried to have me publicly executed."

"I am fully aware of your situation, mister Cromach, but my intentions are more practical. The Empire has, under the leadership of my brother, thrived in all aspects but one - respect for our neighbours. I am also sure that as soon as the succession rites are finished my steward status will be revoked unless the new Emperor is too young. Before that happens I would like to correct my brother's mistake and estabilish a means of contact which would, if situation called for it, bypass... politics," Vargaz scowled at the word.

Cromach looked at princess Luna who nodded and then at princess Celestia.

"We cannot afford to refuse your offer, as you undoubtedly know,-"

Vargaz smiled.

"-but you have to realize that your 'link' will be under heavy scrutiny from everypony."

Taking a deep breath, Vargaz looked directly at Celestia.

"I understand your concern and have only one thing to add. The more we know about one another the more we understand. Knowledge in itself isn't dangerous, the griffons or ponies determine how it will be used. You have to examine the messenger rather than the message this time."

"Do not forget our subjects have their own will, agent," Celestia looked at Cromach, "which is something I treasure the most. I could order Cromach to accept your offer just to gain access to your resources but I doubt he'd do a good job under duress. That means the final choice is yours, Cromach."

Cromach shrugged.

"I don't really mind arranging the occasional meeting as long as it doesn't interfere with my job. I want to ask something though. Do you have access to the files about Golden Sands investigation?"

"As a steward of the Empire I am currently the most powerful griffon alive. I'm sure I can have a look at them. What do you want to know? As the leader of the Black Ops I made sure to acquaint myself with most of the details about the incident before coming here."

"Did you... by any chance... find an unusual piece of technology inside the ruins of Emperor's Embrace hotel?"

"Unusual?" Vargaz hummed to himself, "Aah! A very advanced piece of engineering and neurosurgery?"

"Yes, I want it. No questions, no negotiating, no excuses. As soon as possible."

Vargaz went through what he remembered from various reports about Cromach ever since his escape from the desert... and smiled warmly at the young griffon.

"I shall arrange that. Do you mind if we make a copy or at least blueprints first?"

"I don't care but you aren't disassembling it or anything. I want the original."

"Deal. I'm sure we can get enough information without breaking it."

Cromach and Vargaz shook hands.


	32. Gathering Storm: Cold North, Cold Steel

To say that princess Luna wasn't happy would be a ridiculous understatement. As she continued to read a very long report from the Crystal Empire she looked more and more as if her world shattered completely and last bastions of hope fell. Between the ever increasing number of refugees from Zebrica bringing news about a gigantic army heading to the north coast and the growing unrest within the ranks of nobility who wanted the right to form their own armies and militias she wasn't getting much good news to brighten her days.

Luna sent a small prayer of thanks to the newfound griffon allies for the amount of information they brought her and marvelled at the endurance of Black Ops field agents. Not that Equestrian Intelligence Service members were any less skilled but just the devotion to duty of the griffons now under her command was astonishing.

The report ruining her day had come from the secret service members in the north and had included the testimony of Shining Armor's spies and few pony witnesses of the described events.

The minotaurs had always been a dangerous faction of Equus. With their innate strength outclassing both griffons and earthponies, their sturdiness gained through living in the harshest environment of the planet, and their natural magic resistance akin to earthponies it was only good luck they weren't exactly social species and thus the various tribes didn't look kindly on mutual cooperation. They weren't barbarians, as most of the uneducated thought, but the amount of threats from everywhere around, including themselves, had in past given them a very narrow-minded approach to the unknown. That didn't mean they were stupid, at least not all of them. The minotaurs who came south from the wastes had no trouble accustoming themselves to society thanks to their open and honest nature. The ones who stayed and fought for their lives in arctic blizzards... weren't so friendly.

In past month or so, somepony had managed to unite almost half of the clans and was on a good way to unite the entirety of northern tribes. Luna had to rely on spies and informants because, in the same way as Holy Light's army in Zebrica, no amount of magic allowed her see past the Crystal Empire with any clarity. Her previous attempts had only given her few images of minotaurs fighting and hunting.

Her most useful informant was one she would have never expected - a certain pegasus, a pirate one might say, who had, after recieving a decent sum of money, told her that there were various companies from Manehattan, Crystal Empire, and other big cities who were interested in paying in money, goods, or services for the raw resources the minotaurs laid their hands on. Thanks to caravan travel being very unreliable and slow in the arctic weather, the pirate's airship protection services bloomed due to being the only group with the technology to transport the resources quickly and safely. Said resources were mostly very precious crystals difficult and dangerous to mine to such extent that the Crystal Empire exported only a minor fraction of their gains. Whoever was leading the minotaurs must have had no respect for their lives to force them to work in such conditions.

According to the transport manifests and accounting ledgers the pirate had copied for her the minotaurs were hiring mercenaries and artisans, buying timber and steel, and still had enough trading potential to grow. It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that timber and steel meant housing and war machines produced by craftsmen and artisans who would also teach the minotaurs to do it themselves. The amount of hired mercenary companies was far too small to increase the threat so Luna had to guess they came north as trainers and strategy advisors.

In short, somepony had managed to raise a small nation under an iron rule into a slowly growing power by slave labour and no respect for life. How did that happen though? Such feat would require relocation of known minotaur settlements into mining areas and subjugation of more and more tribes which just wasn't feasible.

She needed more information. The threat was still fairly insignificant, at least compared to the army in Zebrica, but it could grow out of proportions very quickly. Looking at the clock in her office, Luna realized that Royal Guard morning training session would commence in few minutes and that she was way overdue for bed. Stretching her wings, she needed one last thing before she could afford the blissful embrace of sleep so she flew down to the training grounds.

Military bases all over Equestria were filling their training schedule with new recruits but if Canterlot was any indication the projected force, while not lacking in quality, would be... tiny.

Four groups of recruits, twenty to thirty recruits per group. Cromach, Rising Thunder, Choking Darkness, and Heavy Hoof were working hard to make the newbies into a presentable bunch and they were doing a great job considering the recruits were only three or four months old and before that most of them were just volunteers without previous combat experience. So, just over a hundred recruits, about the same amount of Nightguards, and some three hundred Royal Guards. In any normal situation she wouldn't be overly worried about Equestria's military strength but she knew that zebra forces were only a minor part of Holy Light's army. How would the soldiers deal with undead, hydras, tentacle abominations, and monstrosities invading their minds was anypony's guess. Actually, it was her responsibility. She had no doubts that when the time came to defend the Tree of Harmony Celestia would be there in the front lines whereas Luna would be sitting back and shielding the minds of her subjects from the horrors of Nightmare's influence.

"What do we owe this pleasure, your Highness?" asked Heavy Hoof after noticing his group weren't doing the exercises they should.

"Don't let us disturb you, sargeant," Luna didn't dwell on protocol behind closed doors but here, in the open, she was one of the royal rulers and had to behave as such, "We have official business with our bodyguard."

"Of course, princess," Heavy bowed, "Darky should be here any moment. Her recruits are doing their warm-up run around the castle."

"Indeed. Keep going then, sargeant. I will wait here."

What proved Heavy's professionalism was that he simply turned back to his group and started his session as if there wasn't the highest authority standing behind him and watching. The same couldn't be said about the recruits who either tried to outdo one another or were barely able to stand thanks to shaking legs.

Luna smiled as she turned away and walked to the returning group led by a red-maned thestral. She could sense the mood and the relief of the recruits washed over her like a warm wave. The slight stab of admiration was just the cherry on top ensuring Luna that, despite her age, the eyes of young stallions were still drawn to her behind. She had been getting worried that all the sitting inside and doing paperwork was making her pudgy. Not anymore.

"Miss Darkness," she nodded and so did Darky. Luna knew why Choking would never bow deeply before her and as such she didn't force it, "I am going to sleep but I need you to tell Solid Steel to come see me and bring one of his experienced spies capable of independent survival in arctic conditions. Nine o'clock in the evening would be a good time."

"Sure," Darky waved at her group, "Don't just stand there coughing, ya lazy buggers! Keep moving or ya'll get pneumonia. Today we'll be doing a little combat tournament and whoever wins gets a set of photos of me in the gym showers."

The feeling of confidence from the group hit Luna like a tsunami. Young stallions with hormones coming out of their ears, all of them. Oh, wrong! Few mares were also looking for a challenge now.

"HEY, HEAVY!" Darky yelled, "CARE TO JOIN?"

Blue mane shook as he nodded but didn't answer.

"GOOD! GET CROM AS WELL!"

Darky then turned back to her group and grinned at the larger part of mares who weren't really interested in the contest.

"Ladies, if any of you win... let's just say that Cromach lives temporarily at my place and I have a camera. As for Heavy, I think I can be pretty persuasive."

All ears in her group were now perked.

"I see you have heard about the new methods of motivation coming from the Crystal Empire," Luna snickered.

"Are ya kidding? I have multiple signed copies sent directly from the royal couple."

"I didn't know you were on such good terms with Shining Armor and Cadance."

"I swiped them from Heavy. Long story short, his changeling coltfriend is a really good friend of prince Shining so I pulled some strings."

"You have no morals whatsoever!"

"Oh, look at the time! We have to organize our little tournament. Have a good night, princess!" Darky rushed off to where the three recruit groups were looking for their practice weapons.

Luna shook her head but Choking's idea was good. Skill, motivation, and morale were all foundations of a good army. She just wished... she just wished Choking couldn't make even 'hello' sound so dirty. Walking over to the only group blissfully unaware of the perverted competition, Luna greeted Rising Thunder.

"You are doing a great job, sargeant."

"Thank you. Giving me a second chance means a lot to me."

"I was the one who called for your punishment. Thank my sister who stopped me. I will not forgive you but I understand why you did what you did. We all make mistakes in the heat of the moment."

"I... I talked to Heavy Hoof about what happened. I didn't have the chance to apologize to sargeant Light. My daughter liked him a lot as an instructor."

"Speaking of Rolling Thunder, how is she?"

"She's working for Fillydelphia police force. She comes home once a month for a weekend. Last time we went hiking on top of Canterlot mountain."

"Aren't you too old for that?"

"I'm forty-three, your Highness. I still have enough strength to teach all of them," he looks at his group and then at some of the dueling ponies participating in Choking's tournament, "a lesson."

"Well, why don't you join their little competition?" Luna smiled, "I heard there's a pretty tempting prize for the winner."

"I don't see why not," Rising shrugged and instructed his group.

He would, eventually, and Luna wound enjoy watching him find out but she was too tired.

* * *

A bulky, grey earthpony knocked on a large double door decorated with moon and stars. He was wearing a black eyepatch which was partially hidden under his mane of the same colour and aside from an aura of absolute confidence there wasn't much about him that would stick in memory.

His companion, a light blue unicorn mare with white mane was stomping her hooves nervously. The quiet tapping didn't seem to bother either of them. The cutie mark of the mare was a white cloud slowly dissipating into vapor symbolizing her ability to blend and remain unnoticed.

The earthpony bowed when princess Luna opened the door of her room but the unicorn almost jumped at the click of the handle.

"Good evening, your Highness. I heard you called for me," Solid Steel rose and looked at Luna.

"Yes, Solid, and I suppose this is your recommended subordinate."

"Morning Mist, your Highness, pleased to meet you!" the unicorn mare calmed down a little but there still was a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Morning Mist," Luna smiled and walked inside her office, gesturing the duo of secret service agents to follow her, "Now, let me make myself clear that you can refuse to accept this mission and I won't think any less of you."

"I live to serve, your Highness!" Morning Mist chanted the intelligence service motto.

"Good, my offer still stands though. Solid, the reason why I asked the combat branch of the intelligence agency for help instead of those serving under me is simple. I need an expert on gathering information, survival, and a potential assassin."

"All in one, your Highness!" Morning Mist saluted.

"Your goal will be to destabilize the northern minotaur union by eventually killing their leader or anypony who is behind their recent rise to power whether it be one central figure or a leading group. Before that happens, however, you will need to infiltrate the enemy ranks, observe the situation, and report to me," Luna pushed a binder across her workdesk towards Mist, "Everything we know is in here."

"That's not much," Mist whistled as she skimmed through the report summary, "Most of this is just accountancy data and shipment information. Also, Dark Prophet is an overly dramatic name, if I may say."

"Indeed. Your mission will start immediately and will stay in effect until fulfilled or until I myself tell you. You will accept no orders from any other authority aside from those necessary to fulfilling your goal."

"Any suggestion where I should start? My best bet would be going north, finding the biggest minotaur I can, punch him in the nuts, and make a name for myself. That should make the leader notice me."

"We have no idea where the Dark Prophet's base is," Luna shook her head, "While minotaurs respect strength I believe you should offer their leader your services. Work on your cover story while you go there."

Solid Steel softly hit Mist in the face with the binder.

"It says here they're hiring warfare professionals. Every secret service agent is extensively trained in military strategy. You could start with that and work your way up. There are mercenary companies in the Crystal Empire area who have recieved an offer but didn't bother replying. It should be easy to pose as a freelancer."

"Can I punch a minotaur in the face?" Mist smiled, "You know, future diplomatic relationships or something like that."

"Right now diplomacy is our last concern," Luna sighed, "I hate to say it but I do not care how you do it. Work for the leader, sleep with him if necessary, just get us all knowledge you can so we can get rid of that threat for now. You have complete freedom of action."

"I will station a communication agent in the Crystal Empire so you wouldn't have to go back to Canterlot and leave a trail," Solid laid the binder down on the table, "You'll have a set of nondescript mercenary equipment at your place in an hour along with some gold. You can request further equipment in your reports."

"Yes, sir!" Mist saluted and looked at Luna, "Anything else, your Highness?"

"Just be careful. We cannot afford to lose anypony right now. Dismissed."

* * *

*knock knock knock*

Back in Darky's apartment, Cromach was reading a small black book. Well, not exactly reading but skimming over random paragraphs and smiling to himself. The smile was part nostalgia, part despair, but also part new hope. He had to admit Heavy's advice had been sound and him moving to Darky's place had helped him get over the worst of his loss.

He was alone despite it being late evening as Darky was hunting for a voluntary blood donor tonight.

His small inward smile stayed as he closed the book and greeted the duo of black-jacketed griffons outside.

"Agent Cromach," was their statement rather than a question.

"Yes," Crom nodded, looking at a long package in one of the griffon's arms, "I guess that's all the Black Ops stuff I'm getting. Should I sign something or..?"

"No documents, no signatures, brother, only service," the griffons saluted as one, nodded, and left.

The package was fairly light for its size which was, as Cromach realized quickly, because it was mostly filled with paper to prevent it from damaging the contents.

There were only three things inside two of which made his heart heavy. They were a black, gold embroidered jacket fitting him perfectly, and a brown notepad which upon examination proved to be full of agent Vargaz's instructions and requests. He would have to talk to princess Luna about most of them because he sure has heck wasn't going to be a griffon spy. If the temporary Emperor wanted a link then a link he would have, one going both ways.

The last item...

Cromach didn't know if he actually wanted it now but... he had asked for it.

No, he needed it. He needed to touch the long, steel construction, he needed to hold it against his chest, and he needed the claws on its end to bury his face into. What he didn't need was to be heard so he grabbed the prosthesis, collapsed into bed, and put a pillow over his head.

The griffon arm prosthesis Blaze lost after the transformation wasn't the unicorn himself but it was the only thing Crom had left of him.


	33. Frozen Heart: Total Failure

The breath leaving the light blue unicorn's mouth crystallized in the air and her mane was almost invisible against the white blankets of snow covering the ground. Despite all that, Morning Mist trodded onwards to her destination while following a small caravan transporting blacksmithing equipment from the Crystal Empire. It was surprising to her how close to the Crystal Empire was one of the enemy drop-off points supposed to be. It was as if there had been some unofficial trade between the minotaurs and the crystal ponies before Dark Prophet arrived. Trusting her sense of 'some ponies being utter bastards' Mist came to the conclusion that some Equestrian companies had been using minotaurs as a source of cheap labour before.

She was travelling, as Solid Steel had suggested, disguised as a mercenary looking for a job as a combat tactician specializing in sieges. Not that she knew much past the standard secret service training but she'd spent the entire day's worth ride from Canterlot to the Empire by reading up on the subject. After all, minotaurs weren't THAT smart and throwing around few slang expressions could earn her a better first impression. That was just the plan though and she knew no plan had ever survived first contact so she'd just have to improvise. As a member of the combat branch of the intelligence service she was used to that.

She had talked to few of the mercnaries also travelling with the caravan but there was very little to find out from them. For them this was simply an opportunity to get some gold for subjugating the minotaur tribes that had not yet joined Dark Prophet's campaign. Apparently, no visitors were aware of the ultimate goal of invading the rest of Equestria. Considering how low-grade most of the mercenary companies around were Mist didn't think they'd care. That was an another strange thing, the Prophet seemed more concerned about the quantity of soldiers than quality which was why she had to keep reminding herself that this place was a hotspot of dark magic, not just some short-sighted wannabe monarch's kingdom.

Shadows appeared out of the soft snowstorm all around and without a sound the caravan in front of her stopped. A hand grabbed Mist's mane and tugged at it firmly but not too hard. She turned around and saw a deep-purple minotaur twice as tall as her looking at her sternly and putting one of his fingers to his mouth. The first thing she noticed was that the minotaur wasn't wearing pelts or cloth tatters as most ponies believed the state of affairs here in the north was. He was wearing a perfectly fitting suit of grey plate mail and a cape. Mist tried to swat his hand away with magic but her effort failed. It wasn't that the minotaur was too strong for her telekinesis, she just couldn't get a grasp on him whatsoever. The minotaur let go of her mane, pointed at the caravan, and shoved her forward.

The caravan turned sharply to the left and left the road. With the falling snow dampening all sounds Mist wasn't sure whether things were going the way they should or that some tribe of minotaurs opposing the Prophet got hold of them and wanted to cut one of his supply routes off. The minotaur guarding her and the back of the caravan was calm and collected so Mist just followed and watched things unfurl. Even if the minotaur was protected against her telekinesis somehow there were ways to deal with magic reistance of a subject. While princess Luna was said to be able to directly overcome the ability with her raw power, any smart spellcaster would realize that the simplest way was not to attack the subject directly. With that in mind, a small dagger levitated out of one of her boots without her seemingly noticing and followed the minotaur at neck height. A very important thing that unicorns in the secret service learned was to hide the aura following the use of their magic.

The one and only reason for Mist not to sit inside one of the caravan wagons was to be able to run away if something of exactly this sort happened. That, and to keep watch on the surroundings which she wouldn't be able to do from the inside. The approach of the minotaurs had caught her off guard though and she wasn't happy about that. She had underestimated the enemy and now she wasn't in a comfortable position. With no commotion coming from the caravan, it looked like this was a normal thing though. Should she take it quietly? Probably, causing trouble would bring everypony's attention to her. On the other hoof...

She pretended to stumble in the snow and took several quick steps forward. Before the minotaur could close the distance she kicked up a cloud of snow with her hind legs. Temporarily blinded, the minotaur jumped backwards to buy himself some time but Mist was faster and ran behind him. No matter the plate armor, there were weak spots she could abuse. She kicked the minotaur into the back of his knees with her front legs and as he lost his balance and fell into the snow her dagger slid to his neck. She wasn't going to kill him, she just wanted to show off a little to possibly get a higher mark than the other sheep-like mercs who mindlessly obeyed the minotaurs. With a victorious grin-

*crunch*

-she collapsed right on top of the minotaur.

"You're getting old, Darkhorn," a white-cloaked minotaur helped the purple one back up.

"Unicorns are always unpredictable. That's why we take precautions," Darkhorn slapped the other minotaur's shoulder heartily, "I'll take care of this, you keep watching our tail."

"Yes, sir!" the second minotaur nodded, waited a while, and became invisible in the falling snow again.

Darkhorn picked the unconscious mare up and followed the caravan. It didn't take long and shadows became visible nearby which gradually turned into mountains. Herding the caravan into a small valley, the eight minotaurs made sure the next shipment for their Dark Prophet arrived safely.

Morning Mist woke up on solid ground with an unsurprising headache. Forcing her shaking limbs into submission, she stood up and her jaw dropped. Everypony knew that minotaurs lived in small villages on the open plains, hunting for pelts and gathering flora that survived arctic conditions. The luckier tribes managing to find their way a little more south even herded cows for leather and meat to trade with griffons. She'd never before hear of minotaurs living in a city cut inside of a mountain. Well, city was a slightly generous expression but the marks were there. The masonry was crude and more focused on building a livable place rather than concerned with its looks but here, in a large ravine presumably splitting the mountain in half, it could definitely be seen that the northern tribes managed to outgrow the village stage.

She was in the middle-ish point of the place, seeing the bottom of the ravine covered in some crystalline substance and various minotaurs milling around down there. The top of the ruptured mountain was far too high to be visible but since no snow was falling down here Mist had to surmise this entire colony was inside of the mountain. With small houses cut into the sides of the ravine and long rope bridges crossing it at various heights like a spider's web she realized she had no idea where the other mercenaries were or what she was supposed to do in a large place like this. All doubts aside, she was in and that's what she needed. The city was quiet, or at least spread out enough for everypony to have their peace so aside from some mining noises there was nothing.

The minotaurs wouldn't have brought her here needlessly and upon examining her side of the ravine there was only one 'house' nearby. The door was just a set of planks hammered to each other and the smaller holes serving as windows were covered by thick cloth. Glass must have been too difficult to ship here and completely unnecessary given the noiselessness of this place. Somepony was talking inside the house so she did what anypony in her position would - hid behind the wall and put an ear to the door.

"Will it be enough?" she recognized the deep, booming voice of the minotaur who had guarded her.

"In theory, yes," the second male voice sounded normal. At least she wouldn't have thought anything to be strange about it if she heard it in any Canterlot cafe, "To be on the safe side we should make at least few dozen more. Numbers are not our advantage so we need to get as many well-equipped soldiers as we can."

"Our mining efforts are going well but the material causes trouble even to the braves of our kind. The ponies who we're hiring can't even go close without collapsing."

"You minotaurs are admirable beings. I trust you not to become lazy so whenever somepony feels they need to rest just let them. As I said, we have most of what we need for the assault."

"Don't worry, sir. We won't fail you."

"And I hope I do not fail you, Darkhorn. If this works your kind might regain their place as more than just savages. Sorry."

"No offense taken, I know how you ponies percieve us. One last thing, sir. I brought a unicorn to see you. She was the only one in a while who had the courage or stupidity to keep a firm grasp on the situation."

"A pony having a firm grasp?" the voice chuckled, "I wonder..."

After a moment of silence the door opened, leaving Morning Mist's ear pressed not against wood but almost against a second pony's neck.

"A troublemaker, eh?" the pony said, obviously amused as Mist jumped backwards and assumed a fight or flight pose. He examined her slowly, "Hmmmm."

The pony was a unicorn, male, and slightly taller than her. That was all she could say about him because every part of his body was covered by purple and dark blue clothing. The style looked saddle arabian as far as Mist could tell with the exception of cloth covering his entire muzzle and a standard horn warmer anypony could buy in any city in Equestria. Her spy sense was screaming at her to just pretend to trip, tear away any piece of cloth to find out at least something about the unicorn, and, if necessary, run but she kept her calm. As things were she knew nothing.

"Name?" the unicorn asked sternly.

"Evening Gloom," said Morning Mist openly, "I served in the Arctic Wolves mercenary company."

"Ah," Darkhorn interrupted, "I remember them protecting the first trade caravans heading south. They made a lot of money catching on the northern business first."

Mist looked surprisedly at Darkhorn. Was everything she knew about minotaurs wrong?

"Yeah," she recovered, "the boss retired and left us hanging so I wanted to join as a freelancer."

"Sir?" Darkhorn ignored her remark and looked at the unicorn.

Mist couldn't see anything under the unicorn's cowl but he was staring at her intently, that much she knew.

"I have my hooves full with running all this so I could use a little help. Darkhorn here commands the minotaurs who decided to join us but I need somepony to keep an eye on the mercenaries."

"Running all this?" Mist couldn't believe her luck.

"The Dark Prophet will lead us to a brighter tomorrow," Darkhorn stomped the rocky floor.

"Unless I mess up and we all die," the unicorn added, "Welcome, Evening Gloom, to my service."

Walking back inside the house and returning with a necklace which was simply a red crystal on a steel chain, the Dark Prophet gave her the same thing she saw on Darkhorn's neck.

"I won't fail you, sir," she saluted.

"Not more than once," the Prophet said darkly, "Now go ask around where the mercenaries' section of the mine is and get a place for yourself. There is enough empty livable caves for three times the amount of forces here. Darkhorn will find you later and instruct you."

Mist nodded and picked a random direction to go. She couldn't believe her luck. She was inside, the Prophet himself was close to her, and she would have a private place where she could think and prepare her plan. Plus, with some persuading she could easily manipulate the Prophet to allow her to escort the recruiting caravan back to the Crystal Empire and drop off her report to princess Luna. Granted, the Prophet was a unicorn and as such probably capable of unknown magic but she could protect herself from, or at least detect, scrying spells and nothing was present here.

This was going to be easy.

* * *

"You don't seem happy, sir," Darkhorn commented as Mist cleared most of the path leading to the more inhabited part of the city.

"She is a member of the Equestrian Intelligence Service or at least she used to be. I have no doubt that our steps will be closely monitored."

"How do you know?"

"I have met her before. Thankfully, she did not recognize me."

"Then why let her in? It's not as if she could run away."

"Solid Steel's underlings are very resourceful. I believe we can use her to our advantage in more ways then one."

"I disagree, sir."

"Darkhorn, if she reports to Luna that your kind is capable of living up here and bringing the resources nopony dares to mine in the Crystal Empire than you are sitting on years of golden future for your foals. Celestia or Cadance could build a trade agreement with you based on that."

"My children."

"Same thing. The first few ponies I hired with what little gold your village had were traders who taught your villagers how to conduct proper business without being screwed hard. You can pass that knowledge further and rebuild from scratch when this is over."

"Have faith in us, sir."

"I do. I am just afraid most of you will die if even the smallest thing goes wrong."

"We are ready to lay our lives for the future."

"You shame me with your trust, Darkhorn."

"I am a good judge of character," the minotaur said simply and the Prophet sighed.

"Well, first things first. We must force the few remaining tribes to join. How should we go about it?"

"You could always do what you did in my village - kick the leader's balls and assume his position as the strongest. It should work with the more tradition-bound tribes. The rest will need to be taken by force."

"Can the force we have here do it?"

"Easily. The problem is finding them because not even I know the locations of all the neutral tribes. Can't we just leave them alone? There can't be more than a thousand minotaurs remaining out there," Darkhorn pointed to where the mountain cavern exit was.

"With the materials we mine here a thousand minotaurs could take Canterlot easily. Discounting the princess' interference. We are going to need everypony we can get even if they have to pay with their blood."

"Sacrifices must be made, sir."

"It is not our choice though to force it on others. However, we need to march to Equestria eventually."

"Where and when?"

"Now, that is something we need our little spy to arrange for us," the Prophet looked around his house, "Go deal with the tribes, Darkhorn, and bring me some paper and pencils. I need to rest if I have to make the new crystals grow faster. Don't forget to talk to Evening Gloom."

"As you wish, sir."

When Darkhorn left the Prophet mumbled to himself.

"Just to be safe, Shining Armor's forces must not leave the Crystal Empire. Unless Luna became terminally stupid in past months she is going to engage Holy Light either when his troops dock in Equestria or she is going to force the Bearers to fight at the Tree of Harmony where they would be the strongest. We would prefer the second option. That is just a guess though... I need some real information."


	34. Frozen Heart: Preparations

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow when a clerk brought her an unmarked letter on which she felt the protection of various spells. Magic discouraging everypony from reading the letter, magic instilling fear and doubt to those thinking about reading it, or even the touch of destruction magic aimed at the letter didn't bother the princess and with a flick of her horn she dispelled all those effects. Inside there was a rather large sheet of paper, unsigned but covered in writing.

Luna smiled. Four days after she'd left Canterlot and Morning Mist was already sending her a report. She read through the estimates of combat threat and some notes on probable minotaur trading partners and came to Mist's personal assessment of the situation.

 _First things first, the Dark Prophet is a unicorn. The minotaurs seem to revere him as a bringer of a new age of prosperity. This semi-religion formed around him in past months after he'd appeared for the first time in one of the villages in the southern part of the frozen lands. He doesn't seem to be holding anypony hostage using magic so all I can say is that he's promising the minos something they couldn't achieve on their own. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how he looks or anything about his cutie mark. He always wears clothes and never uses his magic in public so even the colour of his magic aura is unknown to me. I will continue to observe him which is easy because I'm now his right hoof alongside a minotaur named Darkhorn._

 _According to the few minotaurs willing to talk to me the Prophet appeared about two months ago at Darkhorn's village. None of the minotaurs who met him at the time told me anything so I guess the Prophet told them to keep everything about his looks secret. What he did there, on the other hoof, is a well-known matter. The minotaurs allowed him to rest up, thinking he might have been sent by one of the mining companies hiring minotaurs at low prices(included in the list). He turned out not to be and he challenged Darkhorn to a duel for village leadership. The thing is, minotaurs frown on magic users outside of their shamans who are just glorified alchemists. From what I've heard the Prophet didn't use magic to defeat Darkhorn so he gained the chieftain status in accordance with the rules._

 _Declining the calls for Darkhorn's death as an inferior leader, the Prophet used the ex-chieftain as a source of knowledge about things in the north. Several weeks later he was travelling around with a small group of warriors and conquering other villages. Where the minotaurs submitted after the traditional duel he sworn them to his service and took some strong members to follow him in his travelling group. The villages that resisted fell. I don't have much information but a tribe of rather nasty headhunters living in a hidden village near the polar cap got wiped out completely by a blizzard. The only thing I got out of one of my sources was that the blizzard pulverized buildings and minotaurs alike into an unrecognizable mess._

 _After uniting most of the northern tribes in this way the Prophet moved Darkhorn's village into a partially hollow mountain and forced his new subjects to mine crystals for him instead of the pony companies. The negotiators sent to him to muscle him into honoring the previous trade agreements failed and the minotaurs follow without questions. Some say the life in the mountain is better than on the plains because they have the freedom to go out as they see fit and engage in hunting and all the tribal activities they used to do before moving. To this mountain he moved almost all the tribal population of the north and transformed the place into a large city. As far as I know there's only one entry point inside the mountain so collapsing it could end the entire threat in case the Prophet's unseen magic is just a hoax._

 _Speaking of magic, I can't use mine inside the mountain. The minotaurs say it's because of some new sort of crystal being mined that they somehow use to enhance their armors to nullify any magic used near them. I can't tell you about its properties, look, or growing patterns because only minotaurs are allowed to go into the mining area. It's not the only thing they mine though. The standard underground resources list is included as well. As far as I know, all the trade money goes into hiring mercenary companies and specialists at teaching minotaurs about various subjects, mostly economics, world-lore, and warfare. My guess is that spending money on not war-related subjects reinforces the minotaurs' belief about the Prophet leading them to a better future rather than using them just as an extremely potent fighting force._

 _For now I will try to earn the Prophet's trust and find out more about him. As for the mission objective, the Prophet is single-hoofedly running the northern uprising so his assassination is a possibility._

Luna had always suspected that minotaurs had the potential to become a force to be reckoned with but unfortunately the circumstances of these days were the worst possible for diplomacy. On the other hoof, freeing them from the Nightmare's influence could earn her few points towards future endeavor. Well, none of that would matter if Holy Light succeeded in reaching the Tree of Harmony, his suspected goal. What Luna was lacking the most was information, both on Holy's goals and the Prophet's.

With that in mind she wrote a single word on a letter that would be dropped off in the Crystal Empire.

 _Observe._

* * *

Heavy Hoof was exhausted. He wouldn't ever let it show but in addition to his recruit lessons he'd decided to add something more to his regime and it was driving him to the ground. As soon as the morning training sessions ended he had a quick rest, something light to eat, and headed back to the castle gardens to continue his own training.

He'd asked commander Shadowstep for help because her unit of changelings were steeled by old wars and experienced with just about anything that could happen in combat. Shadowstep had agreed when Tio Cross insisted and them going temporary AWOL went completely unnoticed by queen Chrysalis, at least that's what Heavy hoped. Cross and Shadowstep didn't really care because their loyalty lay mostly to each other rather than the changeling queen who carried very little authority to them.

So, with Shadowstep agreeing to allow Cross help with Heavy's training the only remaining members of her unit - Starlight and private Expendable - were taking care of the weekly reports from observing the life of the Element bearers. Heavy was grateful for the opportunity and took the training seriously but...

"We can have a short break if you need it," said a tall, purple-maned thestral with grey coat and yellow eyes standing calmly above the blue and white heap collapsed on the ground and breathing raggedly. The thestral looked fairly young considering he had over four hundred years of experience serving in the changeling military. Horatio Carmac Refrigerator Cross had trouble remembering parts of his name and preferred his batpony form to his 'changeling' one. Now, he was looking worriedly at Heavy Hoof and thinking he might have overdone it this time.

As Heavy's eyes rolled back from the back of his head and his hearing returned he, on about third attempt, managed to stand up.

"That..." Heavy spat a bit of blood out, "that... was cheating."

Cross just raised an eyebrow.

"An infantrypony buying time for the spellcaster in the back to blast your fine and toned rump so hard you don't get back up? That's the most basic of combat tactics, Heavy."

Heavy shook his head and got surrounded by purple aura as his front legs failed to hold him up.

"Yeeees," he admitted hesitantly. He didn't mind Shadowstep holding him up with her magic because, if he had to be honest, most of their sessions ended like that, "but when the spellcaster is an almost immortal changeling queen from times shortly after Luna's imprisonment and the other enemy is an ultimate warrior created from the essence of the most powerful creatures living on Equus a simple earthpony like me could use a small break."

"Don't grumble," Cross smiled, "it's a good excuse for a shower together. Besides, I doubt that in a real fight the enemy would care in the slightest."

Heavy sighed. He'd been training since the return from the Griffon Empire and it was paying off. One on one he could hold his own against Cross and, if the changeling wasn't using his vast magic/love reserves to make his armor impenetrable by normal weapons, he could win. In that, Heavy had no doubt that with a teacher blessed with so much experience he could fight against anypony. Unfortunately, war wasn't decided by solo action. As good as Heavy could get he wasn't a changeling and as such he couldn't go on fighting as long as the unnatural love energy reserves lasted. The problem was stamina and magic. Heavy had plenty of the first but what use would fighting off ten or twenty enemies be when hundred more took their place.

Every time princess Luna briefed him about some report from Zebrica he felt disheartened and small. Alicorns like Luna or Celestia could wipe entire armies out by themselves unless they were protected by a similar power. All that said, he couldn't deny growing in ways he'd never expected.

"Tio... you do realize that every practice will end in the same way no matter what I do, do you? I can't do much more than I'm already doing."

"Don't underestimate my sargeant," Shadowstep, a changeling queen very similar to queen Chrysalis but bulkier, without a crown ornament on her head, and in purple colours rather than green, commented, "he believes in you and, after seeing how you progress, so do I."

"I just think you enjoy setting me on fire, commander."

"True," Shadowstep grinned, "but I also heal you back up."

"Just so you could electrocute me next time," Heavy objected.

"Indeed," Shadowstep's smile grew wider, "and yet, you get up faster every time and we don't even have to carry you to the infirmary anymore. That means your earthpony body is getting used to quite high amounts of magic."

Suddenly, Heavy understood. Pegasi magic changed them, allowed them to control weather, fly, and made their bones lighter but more brittle to take less damage when falling. That's why pegasi had never been the best frontline warriors. Unicorn magic transformed part of their body to serve as a focus for their will, allowing them to change world as they saw fit as long as the magic in their bodies lasted. Earthponies became tough, adaptable, and strong. The adaptability was what served as a magic resistance, the ability to absorb magic thrown their way and either use it to replenish theirs or just harmlessly expel it out of their bodies later.

It had been right before his eyes all the time and he'd never bothered to explore the possibility. He'd thought Blazing Light's magic stealing and immunity was just a part of his unicorn magic but that wasn't true. His mother had been an earthpony which must have allowed his unicorn ability to steal magic to grow. Heavy knew it would be impossible to reach that level of anti-mage capability but now he knew he could improve even more.

"Thanks, guys," Heavy smiled and moved his legs. As soon as he did Shadowstep's levitation stopped and he had to take his steps for himself again, "I hope it'll be enough to make the difference when the time comes."

Cross wrapped his wing around Heavy and kissed him, earning a half-amused, half-jealous look from Shadowstep.

"You never know. As they say, hope dies last."

* * *

Changelings generally weren't too liked among normal ponies but the few dreamlings who kept to themselves and their only friends reached slightly higher status. Three was one of the last ones to stay single and devoted to her duty as the dreamling ambassador at princess Celestia's court. It wasn't a bad job and despite her being fairly low on the old love gain she, as a dreamling, had no trouble surviving by feeding on fear. It wasn't as tasty as love, it wasn't as nutritious as love, but it kept her going day after day as long as she sold her body in some bar somewhere for a quick refill from time to time. These days, with the changeling peace treaty in effect, most ponies looking for one-night stand would opt for a changeling who gladly agreed.

Dreamlings, unfortunately, were limited to only one disguise and she didn't even have that so most of her 'partners' were those weird enough to enjoy the touch of chitinous armor during the night. Three didn't mind her being the only remaining dreamling without a disguised form. She served queen Guiding Light with her whole being and that was the only important thing. As much as other dreamlings tried to forget about the old days in their native dimension where Nightmare successfully managed to destroy all life and fit in, she did her best to remember and punish all those who would threaten this new world by such tragedy. For now it meant cooperating with princess Celestia but Three was flexible. Her queen, her brothers and sisters, and all those powerless to defend themselves deserved a life without the horrors her hive had seen before using the dimension jumping spell to end up here in this version of Equus.

Right now it looked as if the massacre was going to repeat itself. The dreamlings would fight and fall for a world where they had nothing left. The news of their father's death had hit the dreamlings hard and queen Guiding had completely broken contact with the world outside of the small hive in Pine Hills. Three's idea for the best course of action was to persuade the queen to use the jumping spell again and save the ten dreamlings remaining from her hive. After all, why should they fight for a place that had turned its back on their father and caused his death. A place that... accepted them and gave them a chance for independence.

"Well, that was a pointless line of thought," Three mumbled to herself, sitting in Sole Regret and sipping her drink. She liked the mercenary bar because most patrons told stories about different parts of the world and Three had the chance to gather some information for her queen from those. She also loved the wine the bartender was selling. From what she'd heard her father also liked the place which only sweetened the deal.

Staring into a glass she slowly realized the sound of the story she'd been listening to died away mid-word. Come to think of it, all sounds did. Glancing to the sides, her excellent vision showed her that nopony around was moving. The bartender was stuck with his hoof holding a cloth inside a dirty beer glass. The young colts sitting around listening to experienced mercenaries had their excited expression frozen on their faces.

With the temperuature taking a dive and the coats of ponies around taking on a crystalline sheen, Three quickly assumed she was the only one able to move. The door opened and she turned her head in its direction, pretending to freeze as well. A unicorn wearing a purple cloak hiding all his features aside from the tip of his horn walked inside, looked around, and aimed straight towards Three.

She sniffed the air and tilted her head. Contrary to the entire situation she didn't feel threatened but that didn't stop her from hardening her armor and causing sharp blades to appear on the back of her legs.

The unicorn took his cowl off and unwrapped a bandana from his muzzle. Three froze on the spot. Her legs shook, she breathed quickly, and her vision became blurry.

"I need information," the unicorn revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth.

A moment later she reevaluated her loyalty to princess Celestia and came to a new result.


	35. Frozen Heart: Corruption

Canterlot, this early in the morning, was covered in hovering mist and while spring was almost ready to take over and dispel most of the snow remaining on the slippery cobblestones it wasn't just there yet. Ponies with half-closed eyes rushed, or hobbled, to their jobs, all of them completely unaware that Morning Mist, the pony not the daily occurence, was walking through the city on a mission from her temporary 'boss'. As little as she liked leaving the north unattended she had to earn the Prophet's trust and he'd sent her to steal something apparently crucial to his success.

A book, or a set of books to be precise.

She'd been given only two instructions - to return back with the books and to not harm anypony and attract unnecessary attention - and an address of a house in Canterlot alongside a recommendation to break inside during the day. Mist, being trained in the art of burglary, decided that a weak scrying spell should give her the information she might need about somepony guarding the place. She changed her mind as soon as she found the address. It wasn't an official building or a treasury or anything. It was just an apartment building, one of the better sort to be found in Canterlot. That would explain the second part of the address - 2nd fl. 211.

Breaking into somepony's apartment just to steal some books felt more and more like an excuse to get rid of her and prepare a trap for her when she came back. Perhaps she was being watched? She couldn't feel any magic in particular but that didn't mean that a dark warlord ruling the north with an iron hoof didn't have the skill to mask his presence. Well, that meant she couldn't just go and visit Luna to give her all the details by herself. She'd just have to rely on pen and paper like before.

Mist hid in an alley next to the building and focused on weaving her magic. She wasn't much good in protective and offensive spells but illusions were her forte. A moment later her body slumped on the ground and disappeared, hidden by an invisibility enchantment. She hated using mental projection when she didn't have a good place to hide her physical body. Shrugging, her invisible magical form trotted out of the alley and entered the apartment building. The halls were narrow but clean, revealing the builders of this place had been instructed to make enough room for the tenants rather than wasting empty space on hallways. All in all, while this entire building looked as large as any other, there would be more space for anypony living there for the same price, ensuring a high demand.

All that flashed through Mist's head as she made it to the second floor and phased through the door of her target apartment. The magic she was using served just as a scouting tool as she had no ability to take anything away but the information that the apartment was empty was more than enough. She checked the two next door apartments as well and upon seeing that there would be nopony to bother her while picking the lock she stopped the spell and in few moments she was standing in front of the apartment again, this time for real. She quickly pondered teleportation since the apartment didn't seem protected from magic in any way but there might be alarms which were easy to hide and difficult to detect. The same went for spells crafted directly to open any non-magical lock. Fortunately, unicorns still had their mouths and could pick a lock just like any other pony. On top of that those with very sensitive telekinesis could explore the shape of the lock and open it from the inside. She was exactly that sort.

Still, the lock was of as high quality as the rest of this place so breaking inside was slightly more difficult than expected but to Mist it meant only about a minute more of standing in front of the door pretending to look out of the window into a gradually filling street. The door clicked and she was inside.

The apartment... was a mess. Whoever lived here had no desire to keep things in order. There were four rooms - a living room filled with random articles of clothing, female by the looks of it, a kitchen, the only place not looking as if an explosion had wrecked it seconds earlier, a bathroom, sparkling clean and leading to a definite conclusion of a mare living here, and a bedroom.

Mist gagged.

The bedroom smelled like a low-grade whorsehouse. Mist's guess was that the mare had overslept after a night with a partner and tried to mask the overpowering smell of sex by some sort of sweet scent. The overall effect made Mist's head spin.

"Bleh," she shivered, looking at the bed, "Talon marks. Was she screwing a griffon or something similar? Disgusting."

Thankfully for Mist, the owner of this place didn't seem to be as smitten with books as she was with music.

"Justin the Beaver?" Mist read one of the newer posters on the walls. She'd never been into forest metal but Fluttershy's trained animals were becoming a thing even in larger cities. If only she laid off the black and white makeup.

The only small bookshelf contained a cookbook which Mist understandably misread as a cockbook on the first attempt. The smell was making her warm and dizzy. She wanted to get out as quickly as possible. As she was reading the rest of the titles her hoof moved to her nethers without her permission. Mist grit her teeth and forced her legs into submission. Oh Celestia, now she was grinding her hind legs together. The last two things on the bookshelf weren't books but two black notebooks of the cheapest sort that could be found in any general store anywhere. The writing on the covers proved they were what she was looking for. Grabbing them, she rushed out of the room to take a breath of fresher air.

Magical aphrodisiac. The mare must have drugged both her poor partner and herself to go all night. Mist knew the aftereffects of magical potions lasted only short while but now she wasn't in a position to think clearly. Thankfully, the next-door apartments being empty meant nopony heard her scream from the bathroom. Several minutes later she emerged out of the bathroom, refreshed and furious at whoever made her lose self-control. Perhaps she could vandalize this place just a bit? No, she had more important things to do... like mastu-

Covering her nose, she ran out of the apartment and into the cold streets.

"Aaaah, much better," she slowly breathed in and out.

The chilly air swirling around her allowed her to regain her composure and she was ready to delve into the secrets of the notebooks during the train ride back to the Crystal Empire.

 _The journal of Blazing Light_

She knew the name, most Equestrian Intelligence Service agents did. Despite Mist coming into contact with the unicorn's case only once he was a fascinating talk between gifted unicorn mages. Their nightmare, to be precise. A unicorn capable of bending magic against the user, seeing through illusions, and, as the rumors went, beating the crap out of princess Luna was something to be concerned about.

She read all about the rise of the young unicorn but nothing in the books gave her any idea why the Prophet would want it. There weren't any magical secrets to his power he could exploit, at least she couldn't find any.

When a day later she walked back to the mountain city and asked Darkhorn where the Prophet was so she could give him the books she was given the answer that the Prophet was in the mining zone. The mining zone was a place where only minotaurs were allowed to go but Mist now had a very good reason. The Prophet needed to hear about the result of her mission as soon as possible to continue his evil plans after all.

A duo of minotaurs outside of a mine shaft tried to stop her but showing the red crystal pendant Darkhorn also had and her growing reputation as the Prophet's assistant gave her word the weight she needed to get inside. Aside from minotaurs with pickaxes and mine carts here and there nothing felt out of place and a reason for ponies to be banned from coming here.

The mine shaft opened into an another crevice, smaller but filled with various gems flickering in the light of torches set in the walls and several large sources of light of Crystal Empire origin. This had to be the current vein the minotaurs were mining. The minotaurs around her looked at her questioningly. She flashed her pendant and nodded at them.

"Where's the boss?" she asked a minotaur resting nearby. He just pointed his hand further into the crevice.

Eventually a pony silouhette came to view and Mist coughed politely.

"Yes?" the Prophet turned around, "Ah, Evening Gloom. What are you doing here?"

"Brought you the books, sir," she answered chipperly, "If I may ask, why aren't ponies mining this stuff as well?"

"Several reasons," said the Prophet as Mist levitated the stolen journals to him, "Minotaur stamina gained through years of living in this harsh environment allows them to go for longer. The ponies here are barely used to this weather and have trouble even living inside the mountain. The main reason though is this."

One of the books opened in front of him and he flipped few pages, mumbled to himself, and shook his head.

Lights faded, a touch of cold chilled Mist to the bone, and her legs started shaking. A large black crystal tore the ground in front of the Prophet and the walls of the crevice darkened with the same substance.

In growing panic Mist tried to teleport away, tried to gather some sort of magic to help her get out. Nothing worked. She whimpered. How could have she even though about taking this mission? A small mare like her trying to outsmart a pony instilling fear into princess Luna and uniting the fiercest race of all Equus was like an ant laughing at a tsunami. She had no hope of succeeding. She should just run away and hide. It wouldn't help though. The darkness would come and take her.

There was no way to win.

She woke up in a bed with fire roaring somewhere close to her. Her head immediately started working out what had happened. Here and now it felt like a panic attack but she knew it had been something else. The Prophet had managed to get something out of the diaries, something that gave him the power to break one's will and imitate the power to wipe all magic out.

Mist was shaking inside. The alicorns weren't safe from the Prophet now. It was all up to her, she had to kill him before it came to fighting.

* * *

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" a rust-coloured unicorn smiled widely at a zebra shackled in the cell in front of him, "A zebra asking way too many questions for a simple mercenary."

The captured zebra was quickly spinning a believable lie in his head just like any good spy would and was nearly ready to confuse the living hell out of Holy Light when a hissing whisper from nowhere said:

 **Luna's agent. I can see into him.**

"Oh, where are my manners?" Holy Light bowed overexaggeratedly, "Mister spy, this is the Nightmare, a god set on wiping this land clean and trying again. Nightmare, Luna's spy, as you said. What should we do with him?"

The zebra was fiddling with the chains holding him. This place was a cell in a city near the northern coast of Zebrica and as such the chains had little chance of holding a well-trained agent for long. If only he was able to persuade them to give him few more minutes without their attention he'd be out of this place and on his way back to Canterlot.

 **You will be on your way back soon enough.**

"What?" the shocked agent looked at grinning Holy Light.

"You see, we could simply kill you right now but you are a valuable resource-"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"Telling us?" dark mist swirled around Holy's horn and a black beam hit the agent's forehead, "Your name is Wideleaf, your parents came from Zebrica to Appleloosa twenty-one years ago while you were a young colt. During the bison threat to the city four years ago you were asked by the local sheriff to examine the situation. Following your assessment princess Celestia sent the Elements of Harmony there to defuse the situation, earning you a chance to join the EIS. You weren't too excited when the EIS leadership was given to princess Luna but you eventually got over it because you were a professional. Should I continue?"

Wideleaf shook his head. He had to get out and warn princess Luna that Holy Light drew information out of his head. Wideleaf wasn't sure how much Holy knew. Agents on dangerous assignments like him had protective spells place inside their heads in order to protect sensitive information.

 **Break him!**

"What would it change?" Holy asked, "It's not as if some details about the internal structure of the Intelligence Service would change our course of action. No, I think we have a more interesting use for you, mister agent. You will get out of here alive, you have my word for it."

Wideleaf looked suspiciously at Holy who just shrugged.

"If you don't believe me you just have to wait. I would like you to issue Celestia and Luna a challenge. It must have dawned on them that the point of this attack is to break the Pact of Harmony so I challenge them to pull everything they can to the Tree, gather all their allies, and face us. At least that way we won't have to hunt any stragglers down."

"You can't be serious," Wideleaf stuttered out, "No amount of forces will stand against the sisters."

"There are gods, below them there are alicorns, and then... waaaay down the ladder there are ponies like us. So, you see, the ultimate power is on my side. With the alicorns at least weakened the nearly half a million soldiers under my command will roll over what little amount you've managed to gather in past months. I'm telling you this only because I want to see your hope break when you see what's against you, to know you're resigned to your inescapable fate."

"Why? You are a pony, how can you want that?"

"Because life is not worth living when you have no control over it. You are nothing to the alicorns ruling over every aspect of your existence. There is no freedom, only an illusion. You can't create your fate. Try to stick out a little and you'll see how the ones above you fear the growing power and stomp you into the ground. Everything has to start over on an equal playing field. The gods now know they made the mistake of creating alicorns before allowing life to bloom and die on its own."

"You are insane."

Holy just waved his hoof.

"Anypony not thinking in the way they've been indoctrinated to is considered insane. That doesn't mean they are wrong. It only means that somepony up there doesn't want them to break the precious system enslaving the weak forever. Now, since I see my words have no value for you and that you're too far gone I'll do what I promised."

Holy's horn glowed and the cell door opened.

"Go and tell the corrupt diarchs what you've heard and seen. My army will soon march on the northern shipyards and start the preparations for the invasion. I dare the sisters to waste their forces trying to stop me."

Wideleaf considered using the unlocked shackles to try and choke Holy Light to death.

"Go, shoo!" Holy waved him off, "Steal a ship or something. I'm sure you are resourceful like that."

 **BEGONE!**

In a second the zebra was outside, planning his return to Canterlot.

 **That was unwise.**

"Heck no. The message he'll deliver will be slightly different than he thinks. Our good old 'friend' Blazing Light, the insane one not the goody-goody one we killed in the desert, invented an anti-magic bomb with your help. I just turned the spell into a curse. The spell will go off and drain his life to fuel an explosion devouring magic to fuel itself further. It might be useless against Celestia but I think Luna will find it so delightful she'll melt on the spot."

 **You ponies are interesting creatures. Now I see why Discord enjoys just observing you.**

"Observing is fine," Holy growled, "Being utterly helpless against a higher power is not. The Pact of Harmony is an abomination giving alicorns more power than the gods have. Discord SHOULD watch and play games from time to time. You, Nightmare, SHOULD exist to break the pony utopia and make them struggle. Harmony messed up in creating the Pact. That is the conflict of three gods two of which are now simply slaves to the Elements and the will of alicorns who can use all of them to subdue you and their own power to break any resistance from their 'little' ponies. Stupid euphemism."

 **The good old days. This time though it will be only two rightful gods. Life and Death, Creation and Destruction, Chaos and Order. Discord and Me.**


	36. Frozen Heart: Traitors

Void was sitting on a throne in the middle of a temple made of obsidian. Blue lights floated through the entirety of his home and periodically the old ones disappeared and new ones flickered to life. The temple didn't have walls, instead it was simply a tiled, ornate floor and a roof with pillars holding it on the sides. From his throne Void could see into the desert of silvery sand reaching far and wide away from the building. The underworld and Scream's mountain were the only places where he could be himself these days. His power was reaching unprecedented levels and he himself wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if he wanted it. Void was more than happy with just watching and occasionally visiting the real world, at least whenever Scream wasn't bugging him about something. Her constant efforts to keep both of them more involved with mortals were keeping him in touch although the two of them travelling to the Griffon Empire as a pair of unicorns and pretending to look for a suitable set of furniture for their nonexistent house may have been a little too much. Still, Void was grateful to her for trying.

Unlike him, the alicorn of Lust was way more tied to the ponies living in the real world and would fade away without them for far too long for Void to handle. Death was omnipresent and granted him the resilience unknown to anypony else other than the alicorns of Life, Magic, and Time. Even if Nightmare succeeded in its attempt to create a new, clean slate it wouldn't affect him too much. Scream, though, would have no chance of surviving without emotions to feed her aspect. That's why, despite risking the possibility of his future engagement, he decided he had to take one final step. That, and the vision of Holy Light's forces getting ready to cross the ocean to Equestria. Almost a million soldiers under his command would trash what little forces Luna and Celestia had managed to get up till now. At this rate, Holy Light would win even without magic or the possibility of Nightmare summoning things from the depths of Equus. Unlike Luna, Void had a pretty clear line of sight at Holy's army as death was a daily occurence wherever they marched.

What he was more concerned about was the northern force getting ready to invade. While the numbers weren't anywhere close to Holy Light's army the inability of Void, Scream, or anypony to see what was going on there made the alicorn of Death interested and worried. All he knew was that one of the gateways of Nightmare's power was there and that meant trouble. Void stepped down from his throne, spread his wings which dwarfed anypony else's and in some respects reached into infinity, and focused. Instead of the blackfire alicorn a black unicorn appeared, ready to once again step out into the real world. The unicorn dispersed into black mist and the temple was once again empty aside from the blue souls coming to terms with their departure.

Void's sealed form reformed on the edge of the barrier preventing him from going further and he was quickly blinded by snow falling everywhere around him, not that he needed eyes to find his way around. The Nightmare's presence was extremely strong and would easily lead him through the northern wastes.

"I guess I will be walking the rest of the way then," his just shrugged and plodded through the blizzard towards the minotaur mountain city.

* * *

Heavy Hoof looked at a letter on his desk. It was different from any other that found its way into his small office in the Canterlot castle in the respect that there was no return address, no seal or signature, and nothing explaining the reason for it to be on the desk of a simple drill sargeant. Granted, Heavy's status as princess Luna's occasional agent could put him on somepony's list of targets to be eliminated but the letter was too thin to be a bomb and his office was protected from magical 'gifts' of that sort.

So... poison? Possibly something completely harmless?

With a careful stroke of a letter knife in his mouth, Heavy rolled his eyes at the paranoia and opened it. Inside there was a simple note saying:

 _I need your help. My messenger will wait for you every day from dusk until midnight for the entirety of next week on the roof of Sole Regret. I know you know the place. If you choose to ignore this letter then I wish you the best of luck in the future._

A polite threat or possibly just an innocent request? Definitely not innocent if the sender was going through the trouble of setting the meeting up in such complicated fashion. Well, if said 'messenger' part was true then Heavy would have a very easy time preparing a trap to catch him.

On the other hoof, why would somepony want him? That was the important question. Heavy had no legal power over any important stuff in Canterlot. He wasn't... useful in any way a criminal would want to use him, not to mention he would fight till death before he became somepony's lawless puppet. No, whoever had sent this knew exactly what made Heavy different from anypony else in the castle. The earthpony didn't know what it was but as a cold smile grew on his face he was determined to find out.

The timeframe gave him enough comfort to have a shower at the castle gym where he greeted Royal Guards unwinding after a long day and Nightguards getting ready to take care of Luna's nighttime dominion. Heavy believed that being in the best shape possible was important at any point in time and relaxation was part of it. That's why as warm water made his fur hug his body he let everything go and focused only on the pleasant moment. Things like these took a self-control of steel and, as most ponies around him found out fast enough, he had it. Unfortunately, he couldn't stave off the strange request forever and in about half an hour he was trotting to Sole Regret.

The mercenary bar was filled to the brim at this time of evening and while it was easy to notice Heavy in a crowd thanks to his snow-white coat and blue mane which made others mistake him for prince Shining Armor from time to time the ponies in Sole Regret were experts at not noticing things that didn't concern them.

"Evening, Singer," Heavy greeted the bartender, "Mind if I take a look around the roof?"

"No problem, just don't make a mess. There's a scaffolding covering the entire back part of the building because of renovations. Guard business, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Possibly," Heavy's expression darkened, "If I don't come back within twenty minutes call for the nearest patrol and send them up."

"That bad? I can give you a backup if need be. Most of the guys here owe me a favor and wouldn't mind getting into a little scrap."

"That won't be necessary. Somepony just asked specifically for me and I want to know why."

"Well," Singer explored a keyring hanging on a wall nearby and gave Heavy an unremarkably normal key, "I'll be counting minutes. Hope nothing bad happens to you. Speaking of which, some of the young colts coming here from time to time asked for you. They like it when you talk about your time in Ponyville with the bugponies. It helps teach them not to be scared of them."

"I'm surprised you are so accepting of them. Sole Regret was one of the hotspots of resistance during queen Chrysalis' invasion."

"The way I see it, we broke their skulls, or exoskeletons, and they broke some of ours. Their queen doesn't want to roll us all into cocoons anymore and, honestly, changelings looking for a quick snack are the best companions for mercs who don't have time for family or a relationship."

"I wish everypony had the same insight, Singer. Even now things aren't so civilized everywhere."

"It always takes time. A century ago we would have hanged your griffon friend and probably stoned the batpony he lives with were thestrals not protected by a royal decree. Things change, slowly but they do."

Heavy looked at the clock hanging on the wall and, the roof key in his mouth, nodded at Singer as he walked up the stairs. The bulding wasn't too tall by Canterlot standards but it was more than just the bar. As Heavy passed the apartments and offices he was thinking about him being somepony's target over and over. When the roof door clicked before him he put the key to his saddlebag and unsheathed his metal staff, ready to defend himself.

Nothing.

The wind was rushing above Canterlot but with winter fading the night sky was clear and Heavy could easily see the flat roof around him. Near the scaffolding on the back of the building there was a very tall shadow which might have been just a stack of equipment or...

...somepony quickly walking on their hind legs towards him.

Heavy stood up himself and twirled his staff. Even while standing upright Heavy's head was at about shoulder height of the second figure. He couldn't help noticing the figure was obviously much more used to walking in such abnormal fashion, leading him to a conclusion which was proven right when it withdrew its hood.

It was a minotaur, tall, purple-coated, and armed a shield on his back and a one-handed mace on his belt. In his right arm he was carrying a satchel which he carefully put down on the roof. He had to know who Heavy was and how he looked otherwise he would have given whatever he was giving to him to anypony. Not breaking eye contact, Heavy put his staff back on his back and picked the satchel up.

He bit his lip when he opened it. Inside there were two black notebooks, a black crystal, and a second note. He looked at the minotaur.

"What if I refuse?"

"Then my lord only asks you not to talk about this and I am to take everything in the bag back. He also told me to tell you this: I know you will not betray me again."

Heavy read the note in the dim light coming from downstairs. He took a deep breath. His next choice could make him several very powerful enemies but... there was one thing he'd regretted for a long time.

He had a debt to pay.

"I'm in. Tell him I'll talk to Shadowstep and Tio as soon as possible."

* * *

This bar in Stalliongrad was the offical unofficial center of its black market. Potential buyers and sellers could meet here and there were enough experts on certain facets of law concerning various parts of the country living on the upper floors who were happy to make sure no client would be cheated. After all, good reputation meant so much more than contracts in a place where law wasn't allowed to go.

Burning Brand, a bartender and a pony knowing almost everypony in Stalliongrad, knew trouble when he saw it and the two dreamlings walking through the door with determined expressions felt like it immediately. It possibly had something to do with one of them having been in the bar before, the female one walking like a panther stalking her prey. The second one, less predatory although arguably even more dangerous, drew gazes and surprised gasps from other guests who happened to look her way. Brand had seen pictures of queen Chrysalis in the newspapers and as such was able to guess that the entering 'pony' was the dreamling queen herself. She wasn't menacing in size and looked slightly uncomfortable in the crowd but her dark-blue belly armor with glowing orange veins coursing through it made Brand shiver.

His suspicion proved correct when the duo walked over to a tall, blonde-maned pegasus with coat so brilliantly white it seemed to shine in the dark atmosphere of the estabilishment. The pegasus had only one wing but, as Brand knew, it didn't stop him from soaring.

The blue-eyed pegasus looked up from his drink, his jaw dropped, and his nervous twitch toppled the glass in his hooves. Brand got ready to call for Brick the bouncer and several other well-armed 'friends' because he knew that captain Icy Gaze was a magnet for trouble.

"W-w-w-what can the boss... I mean I do for you?" Icy Gaze's trembling made his wooden chair quickly tap against the floor.

"Greeeeeeeat save, Five," the non-queen dreamling snickered, "You're a terrible body double and Icy Gaze should fire you. Where is he?"

"He-he-he's n-n-not here-"

"Where is he, Five?" the queen asked softly and Five looked around, his teeth chattering.

"My queen," Five pleaded, shooting out words with machine gun speed, "If I tell you then he'll kick me out. I've led Three to him once already and he was mad at me. I'll have to go back to the Crystal Empire and I won't be able to send you the letters about the world. Don't get me wrong, I like princess of food but-"

"Stop rambling," the normal dreamling slammed the table hard enough to get Five's attention but nopony else's, "drop the disguise, and get going!"

"Yes, Three," green glimmer passed through the white pegasus' coat and a much smaller creature, similar to the huntery dreamling known as Three appeared instead. Five hanged his head and started walking to a corner of the bar where a hooded pony sighed heavily and shook his head.

Icy Gaze, this time the real one, facehoofed when Three, somepony who he'd hoped never to see again, Five, his apparently extremely incompetent dreamling body double, and a dreamling he suspected to be queen Guiding Light approached him. He knew changelings and dreamlings could sense one another even when disguised and considering there was about ten dreamlings left in the world their queen would see through Five's disguise easily but that still didn't change the fact that he was in mortal danger. He was in no position to fight. His past experience with Three taught him that she could single-hoofedly break the skulls of everypony currently inside the bar. Icy had never met queen Guiding but he'd heard rumours.

"You know, Five," Icy rolled his eyes theatrically, "If you keep doing that I will have to load you into a cannon and fire you into the sun one day."

Five slinked back as if Icy had punched him.

"Sorry, cap," Five reached into a bag on his back, pulled out a discoloured wooly red cap, and drew it over his ears, "It's just-"

"I would prefer you didn't do that," Guiding Light smiled, "Although he might make a better cannonball than a bodyguard. Now, let's get straight to business, mister pirate."

"I am just an honorable businesspony," Icy locked stares with Three who snarled at him. He just smiled smugly.

"Five's letters say something else," Guiding commented dryly and as Icy grit his teeth, looking at Five, Three unpleasantly smiled back.

"You will be helping Fail with his makeup for a MONTH!" Icy whispered angrily to Five.

"Cool!" Five lightened up and Icy had to facehoof again at the image of his pilot looking like a kabuki hooker after the dreamling's curious attempts.

Burning Brand decided to help his if not friend then at least a very good customer.

"Would you like a drink, sir, for you and your company?" he asked Icy the usual cryptic question.

"No, thanks. We're doing business and need to stay sober," was Icy's answer meaning that while things were civil now that could change very quickly.

Brand nodded and returned back behind the counter. Several unnoticeable gestures later there was a group of ponies ready to rush to Icy Gaze's side to help.

"Enough with this nonsense, pirate," Three walked behind Icy's chair and growled into his ear, "You either do what we say or your career is over."

"Oh really?" Icy booped Three's muzzle with his hoof, "I wonder how ponies would look at the dreamling queen and her lapdog causing a lot of trouble in one of the big cities in Equestria, possibly murdering an innocent airship captain. That might cause some image problems... torches and pitchforks image problems."

Three slapped Icy's hoof away from her muzzle.

"Worth it..."

"Really? I've heard about your cozy village of Pine Hills where ponies actually like you. How would they look at the incident? They might just get worried about their safety and get your little hive evicted. I believe the Everfree forest is quite inhabitable this time of year. Few hydras should't be too much trouble for a cute little warrior like you," Icy's hoof scratched Three behind her ear.

Icy knew he was dancing on thin ice but what he said was technically true. According to Five's stories the dreamlings were officially in a worse spot than the changelings. The murdering force of Nightmare Moon from a different dimension was under heavy oversight of both royal sisters and they couldn't afford trouble like this. On top of that, it looked like Guiding Light wasn't too bothered by his cheekiness and he jumped at the opportunity to make Three boil inside. He just had to suppress every bit of self-preservation instinct that kept yelling at him that Three could dismember him, disembowel him, and disassemble him faster than his head would stop breathing.

Guiding's chuckle strangely resonated within his skull and he had to shake off his sudden dizziness.

"My queen," Five whimpered.

"Be quiet," Guiding didn't look away from Icy who realized his body wasn't listening to him, "Now, captain... I need something you stole from Canterlot castle vault. Two somethings to be precise. A pair of swords that should rightfully belong to my father as the only unicorn capable of using them effectively."

"Why... don't... they... work?" Icy groaned.

"Let me explain, just so you don't see me as an enemy," Guiding said seriously, "The Blades of Balance completely protect their wielder from magic and, to a small extent, divine power. The branches of changelings have never relied on magic to subdue their prey though. Pheromones, hypnotic voice, pitch you ponies can't hear but accept straight to your heads... magic is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say."

Icy was horrified but everything in his body was telling him things were absolutely fine. His breathing was relaxed and he was smiling and nodding happily. He barely felt Three's hooves take his cloak off and subsequently two sheaths on his sides containing two greatswords. The blades capable of completely nullifying princess Luna's magic were powerless against Guiding Light's mind control. There was nothing unnatural involved in Icy's body's reaction.

"Excellent," Guiding levitated the sheaths and put them on, groaning, "Stopping my own flow of magic, painful. Now I understand the warning that wielding the two kills the really powerful unicorns outright. Thank you for your cooperation, mister pirate, these will find their way into much better hooves than yours. Take care of yourself and of Five, one my precious brothers."

Followed by Three, Guiding Light left with a pair of most treasured artefacts in Equestria in her possession.

"Are you okay?" Five looked apologetically at Icy who was slowly regaining control of his limbs.

Icy was nothing if not cool-headed. As much as he wanted to punch the dreamling, to yell at him, he couldn't when he saw his devastated face.

"You'll have to choose where your loyalties lie, Five," Icy groaned.

"Hey, you said loyalties. That means more than one so it's you, my queen, and-"

"Shut up," Icy couldn't help smiling bitterly. He knew Five would protect him in any situation barring few exceptions. After all, it was the leader's fault if he couldn't find use for his assets, "and get back to your table. Who knows? There might be somepony tonight who actually wants to do business and not just mindrape me."

"Sorry, cap."


	37. Frozen Heart: Dark Prophet

The air inside the yet-to-be-named minotaur mountain city chilled its inhabitants to the bone. To the minotaurs and ponies sitting around or doing their jobs it felt like, well, nothing. None of them noticed because time had stopped for them as soon as the black unicorn walked through the main entrance.

It had taken Void over three days to find the entrance despite his ability to sense the Nightmare's power but he was finally here. The second gateway threatening Equestria's future was somewhere around. Following his senses, he walked through the main crevice where the city was located and then through a mine shaft leading to the area where minotaurs were currently mining. He wasn't sure his sealed form could fight somepony with so much divine power on his side but he knew he had to. If he could take care of the northern threat right here and now that would leave the sisters free to focus on Holy Light's army.

As soon as he exited the mine shaft and walked into another cavern he found himself facing three minotaurs, armed and not frozen. The most noticeable detail about the trio were their ashen grey breastplates that, to Void's unnatural senses, seemed to distort space around them.

So, someone or something taught them how to craft magic nullifying armor. It wasn't unheard of materials partially capable of weakening magic around them but the ability felt much stronger than anything Void had ever seen before.

Wait... not anything.

"Stand back."

As soon as Void heard the command aimed at minotaurs and recognized the voice a lot of things suddenly made sense. He knew who was behind this. It became clear the pony wrapped in purple clothes of eastern origin knew who he was dealing with as well.

"I must admit I was not expecting you here," the purple hood got drawn back, revealing a blonde mane with several strands of grey and a well-known bronze colored coat.

Void recalled the days after Blazing Light's presumed death of him trying to find his departing soul to give him some final words of assurance. There had been no soul to be found at the time.

"Same goes, Blazing," Void was trying to regain his bearings. The situation didn't make sense, "I have heard half of you got eaten and the other half thrown down from the sky."

Blazing twitched.

"Let me tell you something about life, Void. Not life in any metaphorical sense but the nature of life, something alicorns have hard time understanding. Life is change. Immortality, your unchanging nature, is its direct opposite. You die, you get back up, you die, you get back up, you die, you get back up, you die, yougetbackupyoudieyougetbackup..."

Blaze's words became garbled as his voice went quieter and he continued to mutter to himself.

"Blazing?" Void asked softly, "Are you all right?"

"Of course I am NOT!" Blaze hissed, "When Scream resurrected me in my reality using the alicorn of Life's magic my body stole the divine power for myself. When I got sent into this reality I died again but now I know I would have came back even if Scream did not do it again. After that I had so much Life in me I would die over and over and over but I couldn't pass on. My every choice ended with me alone and my life slipping away after being crushed, stabbed, devoured, burned. I AM DONE WITH IT!"

"I know most of the alicorns who are still around, we can help you."

"What do you immortals know about death?" raging flames burst out of Blazing's back and his phoenix wings lit the cave, "You can only lose your physical body but you still stay around. You do not feel the cold, you know you will come back no matter what, and you know you will be able to continue what you started a century ago. PONIES DON'T HAVE THAT LUXURY! Can you imagine the fear I felt every time I thought I wouldn't have a chance to come back? I doubt it."

"Life is a struggle-"

"SHUT! UP!" Blaze cut the avatar of Death off, "Do you know the funny thing? Both Luna and you thought I was supposed to become an alicorn. What a load of crap! The divine power both of you felt was just the remains of the gift of Life which allowed me to steal the Nightmare's power while fighting Luna in Ponyville."

"I felt power similar to mine in you. The power you stole and the power which you still hold in yourself. You are the second gateway and if you get rid of it the Nightmare's hold over this world will be much weaker. Possibly weak enough for Equestrian army to defeat Holy Light."

"Why would I want to get rid of it?" Blaze grinned.

"What? You cannot be serious."

"How a loser like me percieves victory is different, Void. If I cannot win on my own I just have to put myself in position where every result is at least positive. The way I see it, Holy Light will reach the Tree of Harmony, the Elements will be used against him, and I will steal their power just like I did with Nightmare and just like I did when Discord tried to resurrect me in the desert. I will gain the power of all three gods and then the pain will finally stop."

"You are broken beyond repair..."

Ignoring Void's remark, Blaze continued.

"And if I fail? Simple! Holy Light will just destroy all life on Equus. There will be nothing and nopony to hurt me anymore. Sweet victory."

"If you see it that way then I have to stop you."

"Stop me?" Blaze's eyes focused again and Void found himself a victim of a calm smile, "You think death scares me? I have the power that gave BIRTH to you. Your small form cannot even touch me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I guess it is too far for you to remember clearly. The gods are beings of energy and power. Their physical form is just something they use to interact with the world more directly. When you steal a part of their power, you gain everything they are - personality, nature, memories. It took everything I had to suppress the first two but the knowledge I gained from the last one was quite something."

"Mortals do not have the ability to handle eons of memories."

"They do when they have no other choice. Let me refresh you then. In the beginning there were the forces of creation, destruction, and existence in between. Chaos, order, and will. Life, death, magic. Discord, Nightmare, Harmony, as they have been given names. Eventually Discord got bored with creating empty rocks, balls of plasma, and other celestial mess which existed just to be destroyed in a large explosion. He tried to create something imitating him and poured a lot of his divine power into it. To keep it safe from the devouring nature of Nightmare he sheltered it on a lifeless rock. That 'something' was the alicorn of Life and Discord was happy to just observe her attempts at creating smaller things, serving greatly to kill his boredom. The Nightmare tried to destroy her but you cannot destroy divine power, you can just transform it, and Discord found out. The original pact thus became that the gods would not fight each other but rather compete. The Nightmare, not being a force of creation, had only one choice and that was to imitate Discord's project and fill it with its power to do its bidding. The alicorn of... care to finish the phrase?"

"Death," Void breathed out. His memory was hazy but there were moments returning to him.

"Bingo! One thing went wrong though. In the same way Nightmare was jealous of Discord's ability to weave life in new patters and create, the little black alicorn was jealous of the pure white creation of Discord and did not want to destroy her but learn to do things she did. That was when Harmony saw an opportunity and created her own experiment, the alicorn of Will, Fate, and Magic. With him as a friend you understood the nature of change, stopped being a mindless natural force, and the three of you built places and eventually some other living things. Discord got bored with just you because you were too divine though, too untouchable, and created some smaller versions of you. Even that was not enough to amuse the god and, thinking he had made a mistake, he tried to wipe the slate clean. Nightmare, considering that the sign of the original pact being over, gladly helped."

Void's memores were rushing as Blazing spoke.

"You three fought and fought and the more power the gods threw at you the more you gained but it was not enough. Discord knew he could recreate anything but his attention span was akin to an ADHD filly so he did not notice Harmony protecting all of you and, on the verge of losing, sacrificing herself to lock the other gods' power away. Discord lost his absolute control but Harmony considered the power of creation too precious to limit too much. Nightmare became able only to control creatures which stumbled too close to its nature, the broken, the sad, the insane, and remains a power only manifesting in the natural end of life of most beings. The price for it was the Harmony's inability to interact with the world in any way anymore. It broke into shards of massive divine power and, true to it being the manifestation of will, these Elements became usable by the small creatures when they gathered enough courage to stand against forces of other gods or their creations."

Void looked sadly at the unicorn in front of him. Too much knowledge, too much power, too much pain, too much responsibility.

"There was enough divine power left in the world and it surfaced when a belief became strong enough," Void muttered to himself, "The belief in the sun, the moon, love, wind, desires."

"Perhaps YOU should have been writing a journal," Blaze snickered.

"That does not matter," Void shook his head and a sharp purple aura surrounded his horn, "Your course of action threatens all of that. You must be stopped."

"I was lying in the desert for weeks in a decomposing and regenerating body. I have had time to think about things. I must get to the Tree of Harmony and destroy Holy Light to become the only gateway to Nightmare's power. I will BECOME a god! No more suffering, no more... anything."

One of Blaze's wings solidified and turned to black ice. A sphere of swirling darkness appeared above it and Void felt his entire body tingle. The broken unicorn before him was on par with him but Void knew he had more experience. Strenghtening his resolve, Void promised himself to end Blaze's pain quickly and forever.

Black aura appeared around Blaze's body and burned away instantly. Above Blaze's phoenix wing there remained a sphere of shifting bright colours dissolving Void's divine power.

"I have control over both Life and Death, Void," Blaze smiled, "You cannot stop me."

Void felt the power in his body being forcefully torn away. Every tendon snapped, every hair in his coat burned, and everything that made him him disintegrated in the colourful flames of his counter aspect.

"Perhaps knowing how death feels will make you a better reaper one day," Blaze said just before Void's sealed form turned to ash.

When Void's sight returned and his mind stopped screaming in bodyless pain he was breathing heavily and sitting in his alicorn form back in Scream's mountaintop dimension. Sweat was trickling through his coat and the black fire burning in his mane and wings was much weaker than usual. He needed to go back but going in his alicorn form would kill all innocents along the way and he was willing to do it only if there was no other choice.

"Creamy, can you make me a temporary body? You know it takes me forever to do it myself," Void turned to the golden alicorn watching him thoughtfully.

"No, you eat magic like dragons eat gems. Nothing I can make will hold your power long enough to even get out of here."

"Then I need you to summon Celestia and Luna here. We are in deep trouble."

"Can't I just blast whoever is bothering you into oblivion? I hate cooperating with Celestia."

"I doubt it is in your power, honey."

Scream puffed her cheeks.

"Fiiiine."

* * *

Darkhorn walked over to the trembling bronze unicorn.

"Are you okay, Prophet?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-"

Blaze whimpered when Darkhorn's hand patted him on the back.

"That was quite the story."

"All true. Well, most of it," Blaze shook his head, "You have no idea how terrified I was."

"You were hiding it well."

"I'm surprised you don't just cut my head off now and brand me a coward."

Darkhorn nodded at the other two minotaurs who'd been present during Void's 'visit' to check if noone got hurt.

"You stood up to the grim reaper himself, Prophet, and didn't falter. Having to wash yourself afterwards is not a shame. A coward is not one who is afraid, it is the one who lets his fear take over. In the same way a brave minotaur is not one who is fearless, that one is stupid. The truly courageous acknowledge their fear and march through the darkness anyway."

"I wish I could believe it but I can still barely move my legs. If I was a little bit better none of this had to happen- HEY!"

Darkhorn picked the unicorn half his size up in both arms and watched his magical wings flop weakly.

"Your worst enemy is not the avatar of death or the doombringer in the south," Darkhorn left Blaze hanging in his single arm and poked Blaze's chest with one finger, "It is right here. Conquer it and you can defeat anyone."

"Could you, eehm, put me down? I hate heights."

"You have wings and yet you are afraid to soar," Darkhorn shook his head and put Blaze back down.

"Shut up," Blazing mumbled, "You are a warlord, not a shaman."

"Wisdom comes in many forms."

"So it does and it keeps telling me our time is running out. Void will tell the princesses about my involvement. How many suits of anti-magic armor have we got?"

"About sixty."

"Just that? Damn, I should have tried harded and summoned more crystals. Damn! Damn! Damn-"

Darkhorn put a finger to Blaze's mouth.

"We have enough raw material. Our blacksmiths just can't craft the items fast enough. Your power breaks the will of non-warriors rather fast and they need to rest often. It is our fault, not yours."

"Damn it! It will be more dangerous then. How are we with the siege machines and equipment?"

"I have all the numbers written down. Let's talk about it after you rest."

"No. Resting after defending myself from Void will take few days and I need to make sure things will be ready in time. Your warriors who can wear the armor will go down south with me. We can hire a caravan that will take us to the Everfree within a week. You will stay here and lead the army stopping Shining Armor's forces from moving, they would only serve as something for Nightmare to corrupt and to impede my progress."

"No."

"Good, then- wait, what?"

"I will be coming with you. My son will remain in charge of the northern tribes while I'm gone. He is smart, wise, and educated. All he lacks is practical experience."

"But-"

"Do you not trust my flesh and blood?"

Blaze sighed. This was going to give him even more grey hair.

"I was really hoping that even if I failed down there and things worked out somehow anyway the minotaurs would have an experienced leader capable of dealing with the rest of the world."

"Then you better make sure things work out the right way," Darkhorn said simply and watched Blaze squirm with a smile. The Prophet was weird but had good ideas sometimes.

"Well, Void's appearance is a mixed bag considering that."

"How come?"

"Did you not listen to the story?"

"I did, but I do not see any positives in his visit. Your old friend is now your enemy and our intentions will be known to the side opposing us."

"True, true. The thing is that Void presumed there were only two gateways of Nightmare's power. Quite stupid of HIM, was it not?"

"Oh," Darkhorn smiled.

"Exactly, now that his sealed form is gone from this world the truly biggest gateway is gone as well. Holy Light should feel his power waning soon enough. Once Holy Light is dead and Nightmare's pressure is gone Void might be able to walk on Equus in his real form again."

"How about you?"

"If things go my way I will either be a god or dead. As I said, a win-win situation."

"Then it's up to us to keep you safe, Prophet," Darkhorn bowed.


	38. Frozen Heart: Darkness Approaches

"Terrible news, your highness!" a Crystal Guard slammed the door to prince Shining Armor's office open.

"Why am I not surprised?" mumbled the prince from his cup of morning coffee.

The news coming to the Crystal Empire from all parts of Equestria for past weeks were less than great and the influx of ponies evacuated from the entire area between the southern coastline and Canterlot was exhausting to manage. The incoming threat of the Dark Prophet was just the cherry on top.

"We are cut off from the rest of Equestria, your Highness."

Shining choked on his coffee.

"What do you mean? Has the enemy army surrounded us on all sides during the night?"

"No, sir. All train tracks leading out of the Empire have been disassembled. Our scouts report barricades and artificially brought mess to prevent us from rebuilding them quickly."

"Damn it!" Shining grit his teeth, "How many wounded?"

"That's it. Nopony," the guard shrugged, "The tracks were gone in the morning and there were warning signs in safe braking distance posted on both sides. I don't know about the trains coming from Equestria but nopony is hurt on our side and the trains have returned already."

Shining rubbed his temples. It made zero sense.

"Why?"

"I suppose you're asking why was nopony hurt rather than why is our only means of quick transportation gone."

The stare from Shining could melt steel at that point.

"How observant of you," the prince rolled his eyes, "The smart tactical move would be to wreck the tracks in a way which would derail trains and cause as much havoc as possible to have us deal with saving the wounded and fill the hooves of our doctors. That way we wouldn't be at our full power when the enemy attacked."

"About that, a letter sealed with the EIS seal came during the night," the guard presented an unmarked, aside from a small ornate wax seal, envelope.

"You could have woken me up."

"With all due respect, sir, we didn't want to. You've been running yourself ragged for the past month and you need all the rest you can get. We can't have you collapse on us during the siege."

The prince smiled to himself. Ever since leaving Canterlot it had been paperwork on paperwork with barely enough time to practice with his fellow guards.

"Next time something like this happens tell me immediately, right?" Shining said, knowing his order was pointless.

"Of course!" lied the guard and saluted.

Both of them tried to suppress a snicker. Shining opened the letter. The writing inside was hurried and shaky but he recognized the penmanship of Morning Mist, one of princess Luna's agents within the Dark Prophet's ranks. She had sent the reports about the Prophet's army before but this time the content was different.

 _Your Highness,_

 _This might be my last report so I'll try to compile all I've found out until now. The identity of the Dark Prophet is still unknown. None of the minotaurs want to talk to me or any other outsider about him._

 _What I do know is that he is immensely powerful and capable of erasing all magic himself. Not only that but he can create and infuse crystals with properties similar to his power which the minotaurs are using to forge resistant sets of armor. The second trait of his power is the ability to instill terror in his enemies. The crystals have the same effect and the minotaurs are the only ones able to wear the infused armor._

 _Something strange happened three days ago which made the Prophet hurry up with the preparations for the Crystal Empire siege. I'm not sure what but I remember all mercenaries and minotaurs suddenly freezing on the spot. It was as if we fell asleep while standing up for several minutes. When I woke up the armored minotaurs were checking up on everypony and their state. The Prophet emerged out of the mining area exhausted and escorted by Darkhorn, his second in command. Since then the Prophet hasn't been seen._

 _After feeling the effects of his spell myself I know his forces will cut through any magic barriers you put up and the support of princess of Love might not be enough against his will-shattering power. I will attempt to seduce him tonight and, if possible, kill him._

 _If I fail, I wish you good luck in protecting Equestria and, you know, tell my dad I died fighting a bunch of minotaurs, not whorseing myself to some cult leader._

"Damn!" Shining scowled, "Send scout parties further out. We need to know when the enemy starts moving."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"We have new information, Prophet!" Darkhorn entered the room cut into the side of the mountain crevice belonging to the highest warlord of northern wastes.

The pile of clothes under a blanket lying next to the fireplace didn't as much as move. Darkhorn looked around. Ever since the time the half-dead unicorn had walked into his village, frozen and covered in blood, he'd wanted to know what drove him to help a completely unknown tribe of a species ponies were usually terrified of. Now, after Void's attack, he knew but he couldn't bring himself to believe what the Prophet had said was his reasoning.

He examined the table with scrolls strewn around and then the two sheaths with greatswords supposedly able to harm any being no matter their protection. With these even the Prophet would be defenseless against him and he could become the sole leader of the united minotaur tribes. Darkhorn smiled to himself and held one of the swords close to his face. Its blade was pure white while the hilt was ebony coloured. What interested him more was the fact that the hilt had the shape as if it was made for someone with fingers.

The Prophet had told him the pair of blades had been created for earthponies to protect them from magic during wars against unicorns but Darkhorn had seen weapons made to be held in the mouth and the shape was too different. The second strange thing was that while the swords would be considered too large for ponies to comfortably carry even just for the passive magical protection their size was just right for him to use with one hand.

There was little doubt that Starswirl the Beared, the mage Prophet had mentioned once, made these to be used by minotaurs, not by ponies or griffons.

With these and the infused sets of platemail his tribes could take the world by storm. Alicorns would tremble before his might, kingdoms would bow before the minotaurs and pay tribute, his tribes would not have to be afraid of being wiped by too strong of a blizzard...

...and would become weaklings.

Smiling to himself, Darkhorn carefully sheated the blade again and hid it behind the table along with its twin.

"Prophet?" he poked the pile under the blanket. It shifted and a blinking pair of blue eyes looked at him while a mouth full of sharp teeth yawned loudly.

"Y-ye-yeeeee-ah?"

"Your friend Three sent another letter. It seems our time to move is coming," Darkhorn presented a clean envelope with Guiding Light's seal.

 _Heya, dad!_

 _According to Luna's spies Holy Light's forces are done with building ships and are preparing to cross the ocean. As far as I know Luna and the orders of mages are going to use some large-scale spells to sink the entire force. Your earthpony friend and the changelings are ready to put the plan in motion. Thankfully, Celestia has no trouble telling me all that because she thinks our hive needs the info to help efficiently._

 _Holy Light himself is strange though. No amount of digging revealed who he was before joining Icy Gaze's crew. That sort of gives me the idea that he really was nopony special, just another unlucky soul whose life got screwed and who turned to Nightmare's voice for help._

 _Well, the entire south of Equestria has evacuated to cities and temporary camps north of Everfree so unless Holy Light drives his soldiers insanely hard he should be on our southern coast in two or three days and, according to caravan leaders, he should enter the Everfree forest in nine days tops. The united orders of wizardry are stationed in the old castle of two sisters which has turned into a fortress keeping the Tree of Harmony safe under magical barriers._

 _As for mirror Twilight Sparkle, the benevolent tyrant, (Hey! I enjoy making fun of her as well) Heavy contacted her and said she agreed to let mirror Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash help. She herself promised to try to wield the Elements of the dead Bearers herself when the time comes._

 _The firstborn and me are the only ones who are involved in the plan in order to protect the rest of our kind from revenge if we fail or are branded traitors. We can't allow the ones who already have a partner and possibly a future to pay for what we, the expendable ones, have to do. I would never consider the firstborn expendable but apparently your direct daughter is more similar to you than you think._

 _We'll be going after this world's Bearers next and getting them through the rift._

 _Hope to see you soon!_

 _Three_

"Yeah," Blaze nodded, "Start getting things ready. All your son has to do is keep Shining's army locked down, nothing stupid."

"When are we leaving?"

"I am still exhausted thanks to Void but I'm getting better. We will leave in two days so we have enough time to get fresh news from Three and Heavy and plan accordingly."

"I'll get the final details sorted out," Darkhorn nodded and left.

Blaze looked into a mirror, the only piece of glass in the entire city. A unicorn of his age shouldn't have grey strands in his blonde mane and his bronze coat shouldn't have patches of fur falling out in places but there he was... a shipwreck of a life.

The image in the mirror changed into a pink-eyed unicorn with blue mane and black fur.

 **"Stop sighing,"** Mistake smiled, **"We're almost done and things are going pretty well."**

"That's only because what we did up to now doesn't matter at all."

 **"Do you really intend to go through with it?"**

"You know I do," Blaze smiled sadly at his unreal reflection, "None of this would have happened if I didn't appear in this world in the first place. I accepted it and tried to make things better but my presence only killed Sharp Biscuit, drove Luna to summon the Nightmare again, made me a gateway, and now all I did might cause doomsday. All in all, not a great result, eh?"

 **"You could still go for the greedy option - kill Holy Light, stay alive-"**

"And then what? Heavy will probably get executed for betraying the crown and helping me no matter whether we win or not. My daughter will in some way or other pay for doing the same although probably not as harshly since she's not Celestia's underling. Chokey decided she-"

 **"She what? She wants just to be your friend instead of your lover? What a 'terrible' result. I don't doubt for a second she'll fall into your hooves as soon as you appear. So will Cromach now that you aren't a changeling anymore."**

"After what Void surely told them about me... right. No, I can't be greedy and threaten everything. Celestia and Luna have to believe we are the enemy so that Holy Light doesn't bother with us and Nightmare doesn't suspect we aren't a destructive force. Plus, our Bearers have to believe I'm a threat so that they use the Elements on me in full force."

 **"There is still hope for us."**

"I doubt it. I can barely hold the power of Discord and Nightmare. With Harmony on the scales the sheer amount will... do something to me. I just hope Holy Light suffers the same fate. With how weak our Element bearers are it will be up to me to bait Holy into a vulnerable position and I'm sure that means me getting hit as well."

 **"You could stop trying to die!"**

"Well, that's sort of my thing by now."

* * *

Holy Light observed the bustle around in the port from the roof of one of the warehouses. Nearly a million soldiers were under his command. Some were going willingly, dreaming of riches stolen from ponies. Some of them were just animated corpses of those who had fallen in skirmishes leading up to today. Last but not least there were the few slaves and sailors needed to get the bloodthirsty army where it needed to be.

The rusty unicorn didn't care much about those who didn't follow his empty promises and there was no need to force them and threaten the integrity of the devoted forces. In fact, he didn't care much about anypony currently boarding one of many ships in the harbor. Traitors would fall and get revived by Nightmare's power as obedient undying soldiers. Such things were taxing for the god apparently though and Holy Light couldn't count on it to work every time.

As little as he liked to admit it he wasn't a strategist or a warrior, he was just a nopony to whom the deity turned for help when nopony else seemed to be close enough. One thing that had interested him when Nightmare told him about Blazing Light was that he'd started out just like him, screwed over by fate and left alone. His journey to power was quite something as well but what made Holy Light seethe was that the stupid unicorn had the power to do anything, to MAKE the world work the way he wanted. Holy Light was sure that if he was in Blazing's position he wouldn't be a whiny wretch but a force to be reckoned with.

Well, he had the power to fulfill his resolution now. The world would end. All who had hurt him would get their due and all those who had rejected him would regret it.

He realized he was gritting his teeth and his vision was blurry.

"Focus!" he hissed, "There is no other way to make things right."

 **Doubts?**

"No," he said sternly.

 **Good. I need you in your best shape. Unlikely things happened. You are the last useful avatar for me.**

"What do you mean? I thought there were ways for you to force your power through to this world."

 **Somepony found out about Void's connection and shut it down. I need you to become stronger to be a better conduit.**

"What do I need to do?"

 **Don't die.**

Sharp black spikes came from the roof, pierced Holy Light's legs, and began pumping something inside his body. The veins on his legs bulged as they struggled to contain the influx of power in physical form. Some ruptured but some endured, turning black and allowing the power to go further. Black lines grew in his rusty coat and reached his back. His chest muscles bulged, his entire body grew, and-

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRGH!"

-a pair of rusty, black-veined, wings sprouted on his back. His horn lenghtened, matching princess Celestia's one, black aura began to seep out of Holy Light and turn the wooden roof of the warehouse into mold. When the transformation was over Holy looked at the world through a new set of completely black eyes.

"I've always wanted to be taller," the snarky, cynical voice was still there though although a bit more growly.

With just a thought Holy's point of view changed and he now looked at himself from outside.

"Alicorn, eh? Do I get to call myself a prince or something? What am I the aspect of anyway?"

 **Corruption.**

Holy grinned evilly, looked between his legs, and focused. A set of tentacles sprouted out in accordance with his wish.

"Tonight I'm getting a mare or two... or ten. Tomorrow we're flying to Equestria. Get the dragon ready. The army will undoubtedly be attacked by magic which is why we'll be nowhere around."

 **It is forcing our greatest ally to join us as we speak. It will be ready in several days.**

"Okay then," Holy shrugged, "More time to gorge myself. I'm now going to fulfill every wish ever since I was old enough to think. Food, drinks, mares, games, you name it. When your pet returns I'll have no regrets. The army will go ahead of us but we move faster anyway."

With that, Holy jumped down from the roof without even stretching his newfound wings and laughed as the impact shattered the bones in his legs which healed immediately thanks to alicorn powers in full swing. He found the closest female which proved to be a zebra mare and, in the middle of mercenaries rapidly clearing the area, brutally claimed her for himself.

Not much remained of her when he got bored so he went to find somepony more interesting and less... screamy.

* * *

"Your Highness!" Wideleaf, the zebra spy, knocked on the door of Luna's office in Canterlot. He was carrying a binder full of details he'd been able to gather about Holy Light's forces.

The door didn't open.

"Do. Not. Move," said a cold voice next to him.

With his peripheral vision he noticed the air near him wobble and a thestral mare appeared from nowhere. He recognized the effect of fading invisibility spell or potion. She was pointing a device known as the mirror world hoof gun at him.

"I have an urgent message for princess Luna," said Wideleaf, "Why are you stopping me?"

"I have my serious doubts princess Luna would deal with assassins."

"WHAT?" Wideleaf growled at the mare and dropped the binder.

A see-through image of princess Luna appeared nearby.

"Why are you not in Holy Light's camp?" Luna's projection asked.

"I was found out and imprisoned. Holy Light got into my head and dragged out information about me. After that he let me go to tell you all I've seen and heard in order to issue you a challenge..." Wideleaf stopped as the stupidity finally registered in his brain, "I have failed you, haven't I?"

The genuine misery in his voice made Choking lower her gun and Luna shake her head sadly.

"There is a curse on you, young Wideleaf, one I cannot stop without triggering it in the process. It is a curse which will kill you and everypony around you when it goes off. Not even I would be able to protect myself."

"What can I do, your Highness?"

"Nothing. All previous assassins died without leaving a trace. Luckily, we were able to create an alarm spell to warn us."

"That's good. You can lock me up somewhere and examine, ri-?" he coughed and green goo splattered on the floor. Wideleaf's body began shimmering green, "Grrrngh..."

"Not again!" Choking started running.

"STAY!" Luna ordered. Choking stopped. Luna's image leaned close to Wideleaf, "My dear servant. The castle is protected by magical fields your spell will devour to become stronger. The only way out of the castle is through there."

Wideleaf threw up a little more but looked where Luna was pointing and understood. The protective spells were only on the inside of the castle and the window Luna was pointing at wasn't locked.

"Your family will be taken care of and the information you brought will not be lost."

"I under-GRK-stnngh," Wideleaf's muzzle started melting, green goo making even more mess on the floor. He stumbled towards the window.

Choking opened it and helped him climb.

"Sfrry fghnr failghg yuugnh," Wideleaf pushed himself out and fell.

"You haven't failed me in the slightest," said Luna's image.

Wideleaf's body exploded into a pure green ball which didn't shatter things but cleanly disintegrated small part of the castle's wall.

"How did Holy Light get access to a curse like that?" Choking picked the binder up and unlocked the door to Luna's office.

"The spell is simple enough otherwise the Silver Sun assassins wouldn't have been able to use it. I guess the curse triggered when Wideleaf saw me," Luna, sitting behind her table, took a guess.

"But that's good, right?"

"You don't mourn the loss of a devoted servant to the crown?"

"Of course I do. What I meant is that if Holy Light has to resort to this then he can't be as sure of himself as we consider him to be."

"You can be cold when you want to be, miss Darkness."

"If he'd succeeded he would have killed you. I hold very little sympathy for you, your Highness, as you know. Same goes for those who mindlessly trust you without knowing what you are capable of."

"Yes," Luna nodded bitterly, "I know. Now, leave me to study what poor Wideleaf brought."

"I will be outside," Choking nodded.

When she shut the door Luna gave herself a minute to quietly cry. She had sent Wideleaf to spy on Holy Light knowing he probably wouldn't return but seeing it happen in front of her...

...no, the problem was Choking Darkness' cold stare judging the deep devotion. Luna knew Choking didn't consider her worth protecting ever since Sharp Biscuit's death and this incident only made the deep-seated resentment grow. Luna was sure Choking wouldn't let anypony kill her though. She was the most watchful bodyguard she could hope to have because killing Luna, in the mind of the young mare, was her job.

* * *

Morning Mist was trembling as she cleared the path to the Dark Prophet's house. Partially because of nerves but partially because of her clothes. She wasn't wearing her usual high boots and chainmail underlaid with fur to keep the cold away but a rather tight cloak with some figure-hugging underwear she'd purchased in the Crystal Empire just for this occasion. Tonight she would either get close to the Prophet to kill him or die trying.

She quietly knocked on the door. When nopony answered she pushed at it, surprised as it opened at her touch. There he was, lying on the bed and wrapped in his hooded clothes and a blanket. Mist carefully dropped her cloak and made sure the hidden blades in her hooves worked. As she sat her flank right next to Prophet's head and the mattress groaned under the strain she heard a mumbled 'huh?'.

"Do you need a little relief, sir?" she moved her legs and put his head between her thighs, "It must be taxing running all this by yourself."

The blue eyes glowing with power looked up at her and she had to muster all her self-control not to look away.

"Eeeeerm," he turned his head but the only result it brought was his muzzle being planted in the soft inner side of Mist's thigh. His eyes grew wide.

Mist tightened her grip, unrolled the blanket from him, moved forward, and sat her plot on his face.

"MMMMMHM!"

Mist was grabbed in orange telekinetic aura, pulled upwards, turned around, and put back down, facing the Prophet.

"If you like it this way better," she put her hooves on his shoulders and rubbed her muzzle against his.

Blaze felt extremely uncomfortable, understandably so. Mist was just a normal mare with nothing much special about her aside from body toned from service in the EIS and as such had to resort to a rather forward approach where seduction was involved. Blaze was unused, an understatement of the year, to the attention of mares and had no idea what to do. As usual, he did the worst possible thing.

"I doubt I am worth your time, miss Mist," Blaze drew his hood and watched the growing realization contort Mist's features.

Not even a second later blood was gushing from his neck as Mist slashed precisely with her hoof-blade and jumped backwards from the bed.

Orange fire cauterized the wound instantly and Mist got frozen in place, hooves glued to the floor with black ice.

"That... could have been avoided," Blaze coughed and rubbed his neck. He realized he was looking at a naked mare wearing only few pieces of see-through clothing drawing eyes where nopony's eyes would normally be drawn with Mist's physique, "Although I should have guessed the only way a mare would want something with me would not be- nevermind."

The look of pure misery didn't go unnoticed by Mist. As usual, none of her magic worked so she couldn't do much aside from standing and staring.

"What to do with you?" Blaze asked with a bitter smile.

"I can honestly promise I'll be gone out of here in minutes if you let me go and don't eat me, or freeze me, or something worse," Mist giggled nervously, still looking for a way out.

"Something worse than sleeping with me?" Blaze mumbled to himself, "Hardly. You know what? Fine. There are no more secrets left to keep anyway. Go!"

"What?" Mist shook her legs as the ice melted and she could move again.

"Go away. Now! I'll let the guards know you were a spy in a while. If you leave immediately you will not get into trouble."

Mist's hoof blades clicked and she pounced at Blaze.

Her head stopped ringing quite quickly, perhaps in only few seconds. He'd tripped her up and thrown her at the wall even before all her legs had left the ground.

"Okay," she groaned and smiled sheepishly, "I'll be going now."

"Good," Blaze yawned and followed the dizzy mare out.

She wasn't too bothered with him walking into her house and watching her get dressed, mostly because he was turning his head away and blushing a lot. She wasn't really expecting that from an evil warlord but the knowledge that he was just a unicorn few years younger than her confused her greatly.

As he followed her to the main entrance to the mountain city she had to ask.

"You know I will tell everything to princess Luna, why let me go?"

"I've recognized you the day you came. When I fought you and other Solid Steel's underlings on the train from Crystal Empire to Canterlot after the first invasion I was scared sh-witless and memories like that stick. Plus, I think Luna already knows the state of affairs."

"I tried to kill you."

The her surprise Blaze just laughed.

"The queue for that is full, young lady, and I can't blame you. It's no less than I deserve."

Looking into Blaze's eyes she just shook her head.

"You're weird."

Just with that she was gone.

 **"That was the dumbest thing you could have done."**

"I could have slept with her."

 **"Retracted."**

"Good, time to get some more sleep while we still can. The caravan to the Everfree is leaving tomorrow."


	39. Trinity's End: Discord's Effort

I watch the flying screen showing an eagle-eye view of hundreds of ships crossing the ocean. Princess Luna's horn is glowing and controlling the vision as I stare at the failure that happened while I was organizing the movement of five thousand Imperial Legion soldiers sent to our aid from Vargaz as a bonus to the Black Ops spies. Seemingly, I missed the entire march of Holy Light's army during my visit to the east coast.

"Wait, your Highness, I thought you couldn't scry on them," I recall one very important detail.

Princess Luna lets the vision continue and looks around her tent. I recieved her message to lead the soldiers not to Canterlot but right here to the barricaded encampment near the Everfree forest where all the forces from Equestria were relocating. If I count out almost getting attacked by scouting groups on the way back there were no real problems and now our force is much larger than before.

As I keep watching the amount of soldiers under Holy Light's command I realize we actually have a good chance to win... if our every soldier can kill about fifty of theirs... and the dark magic doesn't wipe us out... and the mere presence of the Nightmare doesn't break our morale completely... and a lot more things.

"I wasn't able to up until about week and a half ago. Something happened that stopped the scrying protection, I have no idea what," Luna shrugs, "We took it as a sign to attempt tactical spell strikes against the enemy. It didn't work out as planned."

The image blurs and now shows beams of light that, according to how small the ships are from this vantage point, must be gigantic. Each of them hits an invisible dome spreading above the entire fleet. Bolts of lightning, meteors, and various other beams have exactly the same effect. The fleet, bothered only by waves slightly higher than normal, continues its progress.

"Are they immune to magic then?" I ponder the worst case scenario. After all, the princesses and the orders of wizardry are our greatest asset. No matter how good our soldiers are the number advantage seems insurmountable.

"No, thankfully. The protection only works against spells of certain scale," Luna shakes her head and moves the vision again.

It now shows the army marching through Equestria. With all cities and towns evacuated nothing is hindering the soldiers and they are moving quickly towards us. Out of the blue, the ranks walking in the front explode, causing the march to slow down for a while. The explosions are followed by smaller lightning strikes that connect this time and scatter the soldiers around the point of contact.

Luna explains:

"Your Black Ops colleagues planted mines along the projected path which took out several hundred enemies. When our unicorns limited themselves to using small scale destruction magic it worked but it was like trying to empty an ocean with a spoon."

"So, how many?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Close to a million of them and about fifty thousand of us."

"That's bad but not THAT bad. If we use our defender's advantage correctly then the raw numbers might not be ehough."

"That is what we are hoping for. We have spent over a month making this battleground a deathtrap and they will pay for every step they take but there are three things bothering me more."

"More than a million soldiers protected by divine power?"

"Yes. I told this to miss Darkness but I haven't yet had the chance to talk to you. Void tried to end the northern upising by himself and challenged the minotaur leader to battle."

I've been to the underworld only once but I saw and felt Void's power.

"So, no trouble from there anymore?" I ask hopefully.

Luna sighs and bites her lip.

"I don't know how to tell you, Cromach."

"Moving lips helps," I try to lighten the mood since the issue obviously bothers the princess.

"First of all, I cannot find Holy Light. I believe he's not with his army. The second thing which we've been trying to keep secret is that the Element bearers disappeared without a trace, only princess Twilight remains and she's currently in our old castle in the Everfree being protected by the heads of mages from the entire country and my elite Nightguards. The two seem connected logically but nothing we found supports the claim."

"That's terrible but what does any of that have to do with me personally?"

"The northern uprising and as such the minotaur army is led by Blazing Light who has apparently gone insane and is trying to become a god."

The sheer nonsense stops my brain from forming any coherent followup. The first and only thing I do is touch the mechanical arm strapped on my back for good luck.

"What...?"

"Void summoned me and Celestia to his marefriend's pocket dimension and told us he lost his physical body during the encounter which means he's not able to walk on Equus without his power ruining parts of it forever."

"Blaze beat Void," is all I can croak.

"His sealed form, to be exact. It appears that Discord tried to resurrect him when half of him fell from the sky after your first run-in with Holy Light. We talked to Discord but he said his magic failed and I believe he wasn't lying. Your 'friend' somehow made the chaos magic a part of him and upon calling on it it teleported him to a different part of Equus. At least that was Discord's guess."

"The polar cap," I breathe out.

"Yes. The minotaurs patched him up and he took over their village, became their warlord, united the clans, forced them to build a city in a hollow mountain, made an army equipped with armor COMPLETELY nullifying magic, and is currently mounting a siege on the Crystal Empire."

"W-why?"

Luna looks sadly at me.

"As I said, he is trying to become a god in order to rule the world. Before Void attacked him he said it's either that or that he'll help Holy Light destroy everything."

LIAR! I don't need to think clearly to know it's utter bullshit. Blaze would never do that. Impossible. Not happening.

"Perhaps... perhaps it's somepony impersonating him?"

"No, his powers match what we know about the young unicorn. It definitely is him, at least something of him."

With just that the reality finally trickles into my head. I pull the steel arm from my back and stare at it.

"I'm sorry," I pull the arm to my beak, "I could have been there for you when you needed it the most. I wasn't."

Gone insane. I could have told Icy Gaze to land and look for Blaze's body but I was terrified at the time. I was scared Holy Light would come back if we did that. I was scared of seeing him dead... for real this time.

No, what I was scared the most was him being alive, him telling me what my failure led to. Deep down I wanted him to be dead because I knew I couldn't look him in the eye ever again.

"Cromach!" Luna's sharp tone drags me from my well of memories.

"Can... can you look at him? With your magic."

"Of course not," Luna shakes her head and flicks her horn. The image shifts and is now showing a tiny group, in comparison to what Holy Light leads, "I can see the army just fine but-"

Luna stops.

"Your Highness?" I ask the princess staring blankly.

"Even after I was able to scry on Holy Light's army the north was closed to me. I had to rely on spy reports and Cadance's messages sent via phoenix fire. A while ago the minotaurs broke the only way for Shining Armor's army to get here in time to help and we supposed it was because they didn't want SHINING to get help."

"Eeerm?"

"I can SEE up there. The minotaur army isn't moving or trying to break through the Crystal Empire shield. All the time they just wanted US to be cut off. There will be no attack on Shining's army. In fact, I think-"

The earth trembles and the walls of Luna's tent wobble. My ears pop.

"-Blazing Light is nowhere around there," she finishes, lights her horn up, and I'm magically dragged out of the tent by the princess running outside.

I spot princess Celestia, her tall form towering above the soldiers, looking with a deadpan expression towards Everfree forest. Smoke is spreading from the treetops and there are small pieces of rubble still falling to the ground. I'm dragged by Luna who, seemingly completely forgetting about me, runs to her sister.

"Twilight?" princess Celestia whispers when Luna's touch breaks her shock.

"Cromach!" Luna drops me on the ground, "Fly to our old castle immediately, or what is left of it. I'll send miss Darkness as soon as she returns. She will lead a squad of soldiers there."

"Yes, your Highness!" I salute.

The cloud of smoke above what presumably was the old castle moves upwards. I recognize it.

"That's Holy Light's shadow dragon," I say and both princesses turn towards me, "His army was just stalling so he could attack the wizards."

Celestia facehoofs.

"We were so concerned with watching the huge army we forgot what the real threat was."

Horns roar and screams penetrate the air. Different kind of shaking passes through the ground. Holy Light's army which was waiting and watching us for over a day without moving starts approaching.

"UNICORNS! ARCHERS!" Celestia's royal voice booms over the ranks of defenders and everypony hastily gets in position.

First barrage is fired and the front lines of the first wave break. Luna conjures an image of eagle-eye view of the battlefield to look at the caused damage. Miniscule, like blowing against a tornado. Explosions fill the air and the smell of gunpowder proves it's not magic this time but good old-fashioned mines of my kin.

The air above the army wobbles. An enormous charge of magic makes my feathers and hair stand up. I stare intently at the shifting image of Luna's view of the marching army. Suddenly, everything turns white. I blink.

"Whaaa?" princess Celestia's jaw drops as the image zooms in just to see that every enemy soldier now looks like a pony-sized version of her.

"A trick to confuse our soldiers, no doubt," Luna scowls.

"I'm not sure," I look closely at the enemy soldiers milling around, obviously as confused as we are, "I don't think Holy Light needs a trick like this and-"

I have to turn away as the vision turns fiery red. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take a direct look at the army.

A small dot is flying above and leaving scorched scars filled with melted armor and ash where enemies used to be.

"A dragon?" I ask, narrowing my eyes to see.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, CELESTIA! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE! HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Uh oh," says princess Celestia. As I look at her she has trouble stopping the giggling coming from her mouth. Luna just looks indignantly at the flying dot setting fire to the marching transformed zebras trying pointlessly to dodge.

The first wave doesn't even get halfway to us before the few remaining soldiers turn tails and run. The killer dot gets closer and closer and soon I can recognize a pony shape.

A golden alicorn touches the ground and blows out few sparks of fire swarming around her platinum mane. Every cell in my body tells me I need to bow before her, that I should become her property and give her all control. The reward would be my every desire fulfilled to the maximum. I would mount her and she'd give me her power to satisfy her lust. It would never end, an alicorn and a griffon locked in a mating dance for all eternity.

"Calm down, horny griffon," princess Luna's voice inside my head clears my thoughts.

I look around and see all surrounding soldiers slowly slip out of their trance as well.

"Stop arousing my army, Scream," princess Celestia grimaces.

"Prude," Scream grins.

"How did you get past my mental protection?" Luna asks, fascinated, "Not even Nightmare can do more than cause shivers going down our soldiers' spines."

"Oh," Scream just waves her hoof dismissively, "I know what they want. I know what everypony wants. Even you."

"Well, erm," Luna blushes like a fangirl seeing her idol, "Nice to see you got better, Scream. Sorry for breaking you in the first place."

Scream's stare turns cold as Luna reminds her of the past. In a moment she laughs again.

"HAH! You, little Luna? Nightmare Moon did all that. You still have a lot to learn before you can go even with me."

"Not to look the gift pony in the mouth but what are you doing here?" Celestia asks, still looking at Scream with suspicion.

"Your friend Discord helped cure me. I'm not in the best shape ever but I'm willing to repay him for that. Well, I wouldn't really care if it was only him but Voidie insisted and you know I can't say no to his puppy eyes."

"It is good to know Discord is on our side even if he will not help us directly. One less thing to worry about," Luna breathes out, "Why the transformation spell though? Why not a tornado or something?"

Scream looks into the sky and takes a deep breath, the lecturing voice comes soon after.

"You should know, miss 'I am the best mage on the face of Equus', that the army is protected only from big spells with negative effects. The Nightmare is powerful but its efforts are not very complex. As for why I did that," Scream looks at Celestia and her evil smile makes the solar princess take a step back, "Motivation."

The loud sound of horns announces the second wave coming.

"Aaand there's my cue to have a bit more fun. Can't blow them up all at once but hey, Luna!"

"Yeeees?"

"Wanna see you sister's head melt from the inside?"

"NO!"

"Too bad, I do!" she flies back up to the sky, "MELT, CELESTIA, MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELT! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!"

"Is she an ally or?" I have to ask.

"Probably," Celestia shakes her head and facehoofs again, "I know Void thinks he's doing us a favor but..."

Luna's magical image shows the heads of small Celestias bubble one by one into green mess and bodies fall on the ground.

"She's doing a good job though even when she has to limit herself. Holy Light doesn't seem to care much about his army although we haven't even made a dent in their numbers yet."

A heavily breathing pegasus crashes from the sky and gets up quickly.

"Y-your Highness, the mirror portal, no contact, magic barrier, castle gone, rubble."

"Calm down, soldier," Celestia says softly and wraps her wings around the pegasus who, few seconds later, emerges much more composed, "Now explain."

"The castle with unicorns has been levelled completely. There are no signs of princess Sparkle. The dreamling queen arrived about two hours ago with the ambassador to help us with the defense but it wasn't enough. I was just returning with your answer to her message when I saw the dragon land on the roof, break the barriers, and... and then the alicorn riding him blew the entire castle up as if he was ripping a sheet of paper."

"Alicorn?"

"Rusty coat with black stuff all over."

The princesses exchange glances but both of them shrug and shake their heads.

"We need more information, sister," says Luna, "I'm sending Cromach first to investigate. My scrying isn't working on the area again."

"Blaze might be there then," I comment, "The Tree is underneath the castle. What happens if he or Holy Light reach it?"

"Nothing as such. The power of Harmony isn't in the Tree itself but in the Bearers. If-if they die then the Tree will regain it. Oh Twilight..."

Celestia closes her eyes and continues.

"I have to go there as well. Luna, can you help Scream thin the enemy numbers in addition to protecting the sanity of our army?"

"No problem, sister, just be-"

Shadows appear on the horizon, closing rapidly.

"-safe..."

Big shadows. Luna's observation spell shifts focus again.

Dozens of dragons flying our way. Several of them split and start chasing Scream through the sky. A green beam splits on of them in half. Black blood bursts out of the body which keeps flying as the darkness knits it back together. The unpleasant memory of Golden Sands comes back.

"Yeah, that's why Holy doesn't care about his zebra army. He's got a better one," I mumble.

The main force of dragons comes closer and is greeted by a hail of arrows which bounce mostly harmlessly off their scales.

"We had to cut their heads off and dismember them before they finally fell," I explain.

The head of one of the dragons falls down from the sky. Somepony evidently knows about that. More shadows descend from the clouds hovering above the battlefield but these are larger and triangular. I count nineteen of them.

"I was hoping he would honor his part of the deal," Luna breathes a sigh of relief.

"Who?" asks Celestia.

The spell blurs again and all of us recognize the pegasus on the deck of the largest of the ships.

"GET YOUR FILTHY CLAWS OFFA MY SKY, YOU DAMN DIRTY DRAGONS!" yells Icy Gaze and shoots from his hoof gun into the air. As a response a flurry of saw-bladed discs from each ship targets one of the dragons, ripping it to shreds mid-air.

"Griffons, Icy Gaze, Scream," Celestia smiles, "That's a lot of frienemies helping us here. Good job, sister."

"Aside from the pirate all that is the result of Discord's involvement. Now you can go and search for Twilight while we hold-"

Two of Icy's ships are already gone as the dragons swarm them.

"It's fine, your Highness," I grit my beak, "I can investigate alone while you hold them off. Perhaps... maybe... if Blaze is there I can get him to... see again."

"Cromach," Celestia looks directly at me, "You have responsibility towards Equestria and the Empire now. You cannot let yourself be blinded by your emotions. If it works it works but if talking to him won't bring your friend back... just remember the weight on your shoulders."

I touch the two-handed battleaxe on my back and salute. I'm painfully aware both sisters are staring at the mechanical arm strapped right next to it.

"I'll see what I can do," I take to the air and fly towards the black smoke where the castle of two sisters and our main magical protection used to be.


	40. Trinity's End: Nightmare's Avatar

As I fly towards the Everfree I turn my head to see princess Celestia's horn glow with brilliance. A flare of pure white energy hits the invisible dome above the army and sends ripples from the point of contact. Princess Celestia fires a second shot, weaker this time. The mini-Celestias panicking while bubbling acid melts their bodies from inside have no chance to even think about dodging the blast scattering the living and undead alike. Scream seems to have lost interest in punishing Holy Light's forces further and is now playing with the dragons trying to incinerate her. The more scaly destroyers fall from the sky the more the aerial force shifts its focus from Icy Gaze's airships to the flying alicorn.

For now, I have to leave the battle behind me though and focus. The smoke rising in the distance is my destination.

Blaze can be there.

Holy Light is there.

I don't have a plan, I've never been that sort. Don't you need enough information to formulate one anyway? Probably. I've got nothing aside from princess Luna's rushed explanation.

I shake my head. My goals is to find out the state of affairs. We've lost the mirror world portal and the castle so it's up to me to make sure the Nightguard force led by Darky has a chance to succeed in retaking those areas.

Trees rush under me as my wings mercilessly beat the air. The changelings led by queen Chrysalis are swarming through the forest, ready to join the defenders of princess Celestia's encampment. My focus breaks when I see a purple bubble contrasting sharply with the dark trees around. Perhaps some mages from the castle survived and need help with the wounded?

No. I don't now the area well enough to realize where I am until it's too late. This is the clearing where the mirror world rift is, protected by portable barricades. Nightguards and Royal Guards are lying everywhere but as I descend I can't make out any wounds. What I can make out is the earthpony standing inside the magical shield and watching me land.

"Heavy? What the hell happened here?" I yell.

"Well," he scratches his head, "Shadowstep and Guiding Light put these guys to sleep and Starlight is keeping the barrier up to stop anypony from entering."

Once again I feel as if I missed half of the events necessary to understand what's going on.

"Holy Light's army is finally moving, Heavy. We need all the help we can get."

"And I am in the best position to offer help... to the right side."

The information clicks together. Blaze is here, Heavy took out the mirror world portal defenders, Element bearers disappeared without making fuss.

Just like in Manehattan, Heavy Hoof chose the wrong side.

"Are you willing to see Equestria and the rest of the world ruined just because you feel guilty?!" I burst out.

Heavy just tilts his head.

"ANSWER!" I slam my talons into the bubble protecting the area.

"So Blazing was right. You wouldn't have helped," Heavy sighs and shakes his head.

"Helped him what? Ruin everything? I loved him more than you can imagine and-"

"And yet you left him as soon as things weren't going your way. Cromach, you keep barking but there's no bite. Empty promises all the way."

"Yes, I screwed up! I know but there's way too much on the line now. Fine, stay here behind the shield and don't help. Just tell me why is the mirror portal so important."

"I guess that's not classified," Heavy shrugs and I boil on the inside with lack of power to do anything, "The Element bearers me and Guiding captured are on the other side. We're just waiting for the last one and then you can come to watch what you helped happen."

"Heavy," I growl.

"Yeeees?" he grins and his ears twitch as strange high-pitched screaming comes from the forest.

"-fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-"

"Yeah, that should be it," Heavy takes a deep breath, "Tio, commander, get ready!"

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

Splintering of wood and a mix of screaming voices gets closer.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

The physical impact of the roar makes my heart race. I know the feeling of icy river flowing in my veins. Nightmare is close.

"NOW!" Heavy orders. The barrier disappears for a moment just to allow three ponies inside. I take the opportunity and jump into the clearing myself.

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

*CRACK*

The entire purple bubble shakes as something crashes into it a second later.

Three, Guiding Light, and princess Twilight Sparkle strapped to Guiding's back can't slow down fast enough and end up in a ball of fur and chiting on the ground.

"BLRHGEEGHAHG LETflr THEhehehe DARKssss IN! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!" the bubble shakes again.

"Starlight, how long?" Heavy yells again.

A white unicorn mare with purple mane wearing strange, glowing jewels on her legs and neck shakes as next impact sends cracks through the bubble.

"If he keeps doing that not even a minute. Go there and make him hit you instead of my shield!" the mare's sarcastic and snappy voice answers.

I listen to all that while watching the beast mindlessly ramming himself into the barrier. It's a rust-colored alicorn, drooling black goo everywhere and covered in dust. As he notices me looking ar him he smiles widely and bares his fangs.

"Heh, tHe GriFfoN tRaItOr, MuRdErEr... friend," his pupil-less black eyes go wide to match his smile.

 **Ally.**

"I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT!" I scream, realizing the abomination must be Holy Light.

 **You are... nothing.**

"FrIeNd," he laughs again, growling voice distorted by the second voice talking directly to our heads.

"FIRE!"

A barrage of explosive rounds hits Holy Light who just laughs again as black blood knits the scorched fur on his body back together.

"Spread out!" I hear the voice of Darky.

The reinforcements I've been waiting for are here. Fifty Nightguards led by Choking Darkness, all of them armed with hoof guns and trained in their use. All of them proving completely useless as black tentacles rise from the ground and drag every single one of them down. Granted, they keep dodging for a while but the tendrils not bound by physics pluck them from the sky one by one and straight towards Holy.

The barrier disappears completely and as I look at the unicorn attempting to keep it up she's turning her head in panic.

"What?" Starlight runs and hides behind Shadowstep.

"Guiding, Three, GO! Grab the princess and go! We'll buy you some time," Heavy orders, unsheathing his staff from his back, "Tio, I hate to ask you for this but-"

"Stallions don't dance around the subject, stallions ACT!" Cross smiles and a swarm of weapons appears around him. Axes, swords, polearms, all held in his telekinetic aura spread out to give the ultimate supersoldier infinite amount of options how to attack the Nightmare's chosen.

As some of those bury into Holy Light the tendrils dragging the Nightguards disappear and Cross now has Holy's undivided attention.

Holy screams as purple flames spread through his fur.

Correction, not just Cross but also Shadowstep, horn flaring with amethyst glow.

*Whoosh*

The mirror world portal ripples as Guiding drags princess Twilight through and Three follows. I rush after them. Heavy said the Bearers were there and they are our only hope. I've heard stories about the combat ability of Shadowstep's group but against a truly immortal creature they won't last too long.

Ribs. Pain.

I rise from the ground where Heavy's staff sent me.

"You're not going anywhere, Crom," Heavy spins his staff, "At least not until somepony explains to the princess what she has to do. The Elements need to be used in the right way."

Yeah, so Blaze becomes an insane god, you traitor. If you weren't involved then the Bearers would have destroyed Holy Light already.

"Darky!" I unsheathe my axe, "We need to get through the portal to save the Bearers. Heavy is a traitor. Help me out here!"

Several Nightguards split up from helping Cross with the common enemy and, led by Darky, join me in facing Heavy Hoof.

"Well, that's not good," Heavy scowls, "Starlight! Any protection spells in your backpack?"

"NOT. WORKING."

"Get him!" I point at Heavy, "I'm going to the other side."

The Nightguards move as one.

The Nightguards turn as one when a groan comes from behind us. The batpony closest to the forest wall falls to the ground, a bola binding his legs. Many more fly through the air and take some others out.

"Defensive formation!" Darky commands, "Take care of the attackers!"

She rubs her hooves together and points at Heavy.

"I'm sorry."

The smell of ozone assails my nostrils as a bolt of lightning strikes Heavy and raises a cloud of dust.

"You're getting better," I smile at Darky and rush to the portal.

More pain. Need to stop running blindly into danger.

Heavy is standing there, looking unimpressed, with his fur just slightly singed.

"Nowhere close enough," he twirls his staff and clears the distance to Darky at blinding speed. Darky is not as fast but she's way more agile and ducks the wide swing easily.

Running to help her, I notice the Nightguards are fighting tall bipedal shapes. The minotaurs are here and they definitely aren't on our side.

Or...?

Some of the clansmen join the Nightguards in slowing down Holy Light.

Changeling magic isn't working. Darky's magical charge was so small it didn't even bother Heavy. Minotaurs are charging out of the forest.

Blaze is coming.

I need to get to the Bearers and protect them while they prepare to use their power. That means going through the rift ASAP. That means through Heavy.

A wave of force sends Nightguards and minotaurs flying everywhere.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" Holy Light finally manages to free himself and charges right through the melee, ignoring all weapons and fighters between him and the portal.

With no more hesitation I swing my battleaxe at Heavy from behind as he's messing with Darky, hoping Guiding Light and Three can keep the princess alive until I bring help and not talk her into doing something terrible.

He spins on one hind leg, kicks Darky with the other, and still has enough strength and balance to block my axe swing with his staff directly above his head.

"Neglecting your training, both of you?" Heavy smirks and spins again, this time forcing me to block a swing from the side.

The blades in Darky's horseshoes slip out.

"I didn't want to use these on ya, Heavy," Darky says sadly, aiming a hoof gun at him "Don't make me, please."

"He isn't, Chokey."

The calm voice rings through the small battlefield, instilling peace and calm into Nightguards and minotaurs alike. Everypony stops moving, black sheen appearing in their fur.

The bronze unicorn is walking between the statue-like combatants who can only turn heads to look at him.

He looks older, so tired that my heart skips a beat just from pity. Grey strands litter the blonde mane and patches of fur are missing from his coat. The blue eyes are different though. They resemble Void's so much. Both the alicorn of Death and the young unicorn have eyes positively glowing with power beyond measure.

"Blaze," I whisper to myself, "What happened to you?"

He just shakes his head and keeps walking to the portal, followed by a purple minotaur.

"How much time have we got, Heavy?" Blaze asks.

"Holy Light has just crossed."

"Take the portal stabilizing catalyst with us," Blaze orders and Heavy just pats the saddlebag on his side, "Darkhorn and his forces will hold the Nightguards here."

Heavy nods and both of them enter the mirror portal.

The freeze holding everpony breaks and I charge the minotaur standing in front of the portal. Lights start flashing as Starlight, Shadowstep, and Cross turn against the Nightguards alongside the minotaurs.

"Darky, go back and tell Luna-URK!"

Darkhorn's shield slams into my face with the force of a train.

"Like hell I am," several bullets pepper the minotaur's platemail and make him move away with his shield ready. That's all Darky needs to fly through the portal with me, still recovering from the blow and acting more on instinct than anything else, right behind her.

One short falling sensation later we arrive in a large round room with stone walls and several crystal light sources on the ceiling. Heavy Hoof is nowhere to be found, Holy Light and Blaze are facing each other.

"WHERRRRGH ARRRR THGEYYY?" snarls Holy Light.

"Not much of you left, is there?" Blaze taunts, "Just a boiling tank of divine power. Trust me, I know that feeling. Aspirin helps."

"BUUUUURN!" Holy bares his fangs at Blaze.

"Yes, it was. Thank you. It's pretty difficult to suppress the god's power changing you into their image, isn't it? Nightmare, the mindless force of destruction... keyword - mindless. Even if you succeeded here you would not see the world destroyed as you wanted, Holy. Holy Light would be gone and Nightmare would continue anyway. That means all this wasn't to take revenge on the world. It was just to make yourself disappear. I know that feeling too."

"GRRRRGH..."

"The thing is, I have no control over my fate. You could have just slit your throat and ended the pain yourself. I wasn't allowed to. You are just weak, fearful little unicorn."

"BLAAAARGHR!"

"Excuses, excuses," Blaze waves his hoof.

I'm not exactly sure if he understands Holy Light or whether he's just stalling for something. Probably the latter.

"BLAZE!" Darky yells.

"Yes, Chokey?" he asks calmly, "You know you shouldn't be here."

"One thing! Just one thing. Whose side are ya on?"

"Mine."

"I was afraid of that," I say, taking the mechanical arm off my back, "You know, I didn't believe Luna when she said you went insane. I knew deep down the unicorn I fell in love with would never endanger the world for his own benefit.-"

I throw the arm to his legs. It slides over the stone floor.

"-You're not him. Blaze would swallow his trouble and help us. He wouldn't plot in darkness but face everything with us by his side."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAA," Holy Light starts cackling and doesn't stop as he watches Blaze stare at his ex-prosthesis.

"Really?" Blaze comments, blackfrost wings appearing on his back. They are still less frosty than his tone of voice, "One of you left me so she could alleviate her guilt, not caring about what I had to say. The second one turned against me when I was still the same pony but just LOOKED different. Pretty shallow, don't you think?"

"Blaze, please," Darky pleads but has nothing more to add. He is right about both of us.

"You have no say in what happens here," Blaze kicks the arm back towards me, "Get out! I WILL GAIN ULTIMATE POWER AND REMAKE THE WORLD TO MY LIKING!"

Holy Light jumps at him just to be swatted away by frozen wing. It doesn't do much to slow him down and he charges again, this time shattering Blaze's ice barrier, ramming his horn into his chest, and continuing until he pins Blaze to the wall. The impact shakes the building and Blaze's blood splatters over Holy's mane.

"ELEMENTS!" Holy roars, slamming Blaze into the wall over and over again.

"Asking... the same... thing," Blaze coughs and grins.

"Mmmmmhm," I mumble as a cloth is stuffed into my beak and I struggle against muscles of steel pulling me backwards. In the corner of my eye I see Darky sharing my fate. A blow to my head is strong enough to stop my squirming. Darky stops as well when a blade slips out of a hoof holding her neck and presses against it.

"Don't make this worse," Heavy Hoof whispers.

Holy Light grabs Blaze with claws growing out of one of his front hooves and grabs his chest. The cracking of ribs makes me grind my beak.

 **You want my power, worthless creature?**

"Nah, I'm cool. Already got it," Blaze groans.

 **I will rip you to pieces, devour your heart, and with your last breath I'll make you watch your friends die.**

"I... have no friends."

Something wet drops on my neck feathers and Heavy's breathing speeds up.

 **You will die alone and unloved. Just like you should.**

"I know," Blaze goes limp and Holy Light's talons squeeze, making blood stream from Blaze's mouth.

 **Not begging for mercy, help of those you betrayed? They might save you out of sheer stupidity.**

Black shards from Blaze's wings whirl around both of them and cover the duo. Holy Light tries to move but he can't. Neither can Blaze though and his breathing is growing shallow and ragged.

"At which point... of this... did you get the idea... that I WANT... to be-"

*Crack*

Blaze's ribcage caves in as the ice around the claws holding him shatters. The rest still holds though. The blue eyes visible from here due to their unnatural glow go dim.

 **Self-pity doesn't make me-**

The walls of the round room creak and a section slides away, revealing princess Twilight, mirror Twilight, the remaining five Bearers, mirror Applejack with her roboarms, mirror Rainbow Dash with enough piercings to make walking next to somepony carrying a magnet painful, and a pony who has to be mirror version of Rarity. All mirror world Bearers aside from Twilight are wearing a piece of jewellery with their cutie mark on it. Mirror Twilight is wearing two necklaces and thus looks like a zebra shaman.

"Fire!" the iron hoof of Equus orders.

A beam of rainbows hits Holy Light.

The black veins in Holy Light's coat disappear, his wings melt, and his horn shortens. Dark clouds coming from him burn away in the brilliant light of the united Elements. The rusty unicorn falls to the ground and the beam strikes Blaze.

Unlike with Holy, the light gets absorbed and dies away. Blaze opens his eyes again and looks down at his hooves. A wing of fire and one of ice sprout from his back again. Above the fire wing a sphere of flashing lights hovers and, in the same fashion, there is a vortex of darkness above his frozen one.

Slowly, a third sphere materializes in front of him, white and empty.

"Beginning, end, and potential," Blaze smiles, "The entirety of existence."

He scowls at Holy Light who is growling and getting back up.

"I look at you and see myself from four years ago. You'll get the chance I would have given myself at the time."

The sphere of potential flickers and disappears. The sphere of life goes out as well. Only the sphere of death remains.

"Find your peace," says Blaze and black flames burn the Nightmare's avatar into nothingness.

 **You cannot stop me. I have agents everywhere.**

"Yes, cowards, weaklings, broken souls. Very useful," Blaze snorts and his ice wing melts, giving room to a second fire one, "but the last big gateway to you in this world is me."

 **You would never do it!**

"You will never bother this world again, Nightmare," the flame of Blaze's wings grows brighter and brighter until the wings are pure white, "The only way to repulse divine power is to use the power of the other two against it. That's why you needed Discord's help to destroy the Tree. Too bad he refused so you had to try to make the Bearers useless. Well, by stealing your power I knew that as well."

 **I will be back.**

"Yes, in few million years. Now disappear! That is my judgement."

The sphere of darkness melts and Blaze turns to us.

"Now, to judge the mortals who refused to be my servants and concubines."

I struggle against Heavy's grip as Blaze comes closer.

"Just kidding," he chuckles, "The last gateway has to disappear. I would like to go while deluding myself that you will miss me."

"MHHHMMHM!"

"Goodbye."

He levitates the Blades of Balance sheathed on his back and pierces himself with them. The white fire of his wings consumes him.

All that remains is the bright image burned in my eyes disappearing as I blink and a pair of swords lying on the floor.


	41. Trinity's End: Harmony's Offer

**The second worst thing in life is if we don't get what we want.**

 **The worst is if we get it.**

* * *

White light everywhere.

I am not amused. I've been here before.

"Not again. I'm not doing this shit again." I mumble to myself.

A mirror appears.

Black unicorn walks out of what was supposed to be my reflection.

"Well, it's traditional for a soul to pass judgement on itself before it goes into the great beyond, right?" says Mistake.

"Ooookay. My name is Blazing Light. I am a failure who managed to almost throw the world into chaos multiple times, who can't keep friends because he is a piece of trash not worth their time, and who has failed everypony he's ever met. Tadaaa, done!"

 _I thought this would be the case._

The soothing voice comes from all around.

 _You are not fit to judge yourself, young unicorn._

"Nonsense, I know myself better than anypony."

 _Is there nothing you've done that resulted in good outcome?_

"There is," I hesitantly admit. No real point of lying to the great voice in the emptiness who doesn't have the manners to introduce itself.

 _My name is Harmony._

"Guessed that much. Yea, some things ended well but I wouldn't have had to save anything if I didn't start it in the first place so there's that."

 _Let me show you the result of your trickery._

"It wasn't that much of a plan. Stay hidden and unknown until Holy Light attacks. Protect the Bearers until they get the explanation about some ponies being gateways to Nightmare's power and allowing it to interact with the world. Pretend to be evil so your Elements are used at full force. Die in the blast with Holy and eliminate Nightmare for ages to come. Not smart, not complex, very effective. Worked pretty well I think."

 _I have the ability to purify as well as to destroy. My power was used by the Bearers when Luna emerged from her imprisonment on the moon. Had you not tried to steal my power you might have lived._

"Why bother? Crom hates me and Chokey doesn't want to be near me. My only chances for happiness are gone."

 _Ah yes, the only question you do not know the answer to._

"Har har, very funny."

 _Just watch._

"Fiiiine," I get ready for the instant replay of my death. Maybe I'm juuuust a little jaded but being left alone by everypony I believed in sort of leaves a bitter taste.

"You saying you're bitter is like saying Discord is just a tad unorganized," Mistake snickers.

"Get out of my head, head."

The definitely not air in front of me wobbles and a clear image appears.

 _These are several things that happened during the week after your death._

* * *

Heavy Hoof lets Cromach go and Three stops pressing a blade to Chokey's neck. Princess Twilight walks over to Heavy and orders:

"Guards, shackle him."

Chokey unwraps a set of chains from her belt and locks them around Heavy's hooves. He doesn't resist in the slightest.

"Mind giving the letter from my saddlebag to mirror Twilight?" Heavy asks and Crom rummages through the bag, taking out a small envelope.

I know what is in there. Nopony was supposed to know about the plan aside from Heavy, Darkhorn, Guiding, and anypony they thought necessary for the completion. The only reason I wrote it down for mirror Twilight was so that she didn't suspect anypony on our side of the portal from trying to use Nightmare's power against her.

I don't need anypony else on our side to know the truth. It doesn't matter anymore.

Cromach hands the letter to princess Twilight but it gets snatched out of his talons by mirror Twilight's telekinesis.

This was my last gambit. The only way of protecting Guiding and Heavy from execution. Well, begging for help can't really be called gambit but it was all I had. Dignity has no value for me.

Thankfully, unicorn Twilight understands.

"Take these three away," she points to Guiding, Three, and Heavy, "but if anything happens to them you can consider it a declaration of war."

"What?" princess Twilight shakes her head.

"They will explain. Now leave this place," her horn lights up and a small portal appears, "we have a loss to mourn."

* * *

"A minute of silence," I say, feeling as if I was drunk, "Aaaa, nevermind. Five seconds is enough for the likes of me. Can I go now?"

 _Quiet, you!_

* * *

Soldiers in Holy Light's army start falling over as Nightmare's hold over them disappears. Soon enough, the alive ones quickly realize what protected them from the alicorns is gone.

Celestia disperses Scream's illusion and her voice, amplified by magic, promises the soldiers who give up safe return to Zebrica. Many of them immediately leave the side of the massive army but some believe the pony force is tiny and cannot stand against them.

Those continue the assault as a single alicorn flies into their midst. Celestia, for a brief second, summons the power of the sun directly into herself.

The conflagration is brief but the white ash flying around will enrich the soil for time to come.

Seeing what single princess did in a second makes everypony still alive drop their weapons.

The dragons, however, fight until the end. Even without the protection of the Nightmare they are more than a match for Icy Gaze's rapidly diminishing fleet. At least until one of them manages to set Scream's tail on fire.

The alicorn of Lust gets very, very mad.

The dragons get very, very dead.

* * *

"Hah! And they say dragon scales don't burn," I hoofbump Mistake.

"Well, fire usually isn't green and made of teeth," he bumps back.

 _If I had a body I would facehoof._

* * *

Heavy Hoof sits in the Canterlot castle dungeon, looking up at princess Luna walking in.

"You shall not be executed and there will be no formal action taken against the dreamlings," she says.

"There is no need to bend the law for me, your Highness," says Heavy grimly.

"It all depends on what you call the crime, young pony. You will, of course, be stripped of your Royal Guard rank. We cannot keep those who disobey us around."

Heavy nods.

"I will find a job elsewhere. Police forces around Equestria must be hiring."

"No, you will not," Luna smiles at him, "You have a debt to pay to the crown."

She summons a scroll, unrolls it, and starts reading.

"We write to inform you that in light of certain recent events connected to the Order of the Silver Sun there arose the need to restore the reputation of this ancient and important organization. In order to do so there has to be appointed a new leader who will claim the rank of baron and gain access to all currently frozen Silver Sun assets. Such is the price of your freedom and since we cannot risk any hostility from the mirror world you will be free."

"Huh?"

"It is rare to see somepony as devoted to protecting others as you are, baron Heavy Hoof. Defying everypony including me and my sister took a lot of courage. I believe you shall restore the light the Order lost long time ago."

"I am not flawless."

Luna opens the cell door.

"Nopony is. You are trying very hard to be though and can inspire others to strive for it as well. It would be a shame to see somepony like you rot in prison. You are free now. Go home and see my sister first thing tomorrow."

"Yes, your Highness," he bows.

"We wish you the best of luck, baron," Luna bows as well.

* * *

"I-I don't know what to say."

 _Then why are you talking? Celestia is currently hammering out a business treaty with the Darkhorn clan. Your daughter explained everything to the sisters and they took these steps. Everything you worked for is safe._

"Good," I take a deep breath and smile, "I can sleep in peace then."

 _Not... yet._

"WHAT? WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!"

 _Calm down._

"No! Discord used me, Nightmare used me... I was an idiot to think you would be different."

 _ENOUGH!_

I freeze. Mistake disappears. The voice loses its force.

 _Enough. As little as you might believe it I feel sympathy for you and not only because you were useful for me. You are just a hurt colt but I know you have the potential to become greater than many. I called you here to offer you a chance._

"What chance?"

 _I can purify you of all divine power and give you new life._

"But I would still be me. That's not a victory for anypony."

 _I disagree. As they say, you know your first true love because it hurts._

"Low blow," I scowl.

 _Oh? Am I wrong?_

"You're right, okay? I loved both of them. Yes, they were the only reason I tried to make things work. I'm not a hero. I'm not even a good pony. I don't care about Equestria, griffons being eaten alive, or minotaur civilization. I just wanted to give them a chance to see tomorrow. I'm THAT seflish."

 _Then why not go for a tomorrow together?_

"They CHOSE to leave me. I wasn't good enough for either of them. I didn't deserve them anyway."

 _It seems to me you are trying to make yourself believe it rather than me._

"I'm just explaining things as they are."

 _Well, what do you choose? Will you return to them and make their days just a little brighter or... leave them?_

"ME making something brighter? Right, Blazing-fucking-Light. They are better off without me, aren't they? They must be. I can't help them, I-"

 _Choose, little unicorn. Do not dwell on it too much. We both know where that path leads._

Is there really hope for me?

Don't think about it. Just pick a path and follow it to the end.

"I-"

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I shake my head.

"I give up. I just want peace. They can do much better than me."


End file.
